


The House of Winter

by kolis10



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha Natasha Romanov, Alpha Sam Wilson, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, BAMF Clint Barton, BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF Sam Wilson, BAMF Steve Rogers, F/M, Is it shrinkyclinks if Steve still has super strength?, M/M, Magic, Memory Loss, Minor Character Death, Omega Clint Barton, Omega Steve Rogers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Rituals, Sexist Language, Slavery, Violence, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Wrongful Imprisonment, casual naked shower conversations, we literally never learn the guy's name
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-06-03 16:47:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6618469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kolis10/pseuds/kolis10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world of magic & mystery, Steven is the hero of Levram known as the Captain. Unfortunately the country of Der Schädel, led by the mysterious organization known as Hydra has their own ace. A man of terrifying presence & the strength to match the Captain's. He is known as the Winter Soldier.<br/>In order to defeat Hydra, Steven volunteers to temporarily revert back to his smaller form in order to infiltrate the Winter Soldier's stronghold. As he searches for anything that can be used to bring down Hydra, Steven makes allies & enemies. All he has to do is survive the increasingly mysterious Soldier who can't seem to decide if he wants to mate with Steven or kill him. Steven can't seem to decide either.<br/>But the House of Winter has secrets of its own & the only one who seems to know them all is the Soldier himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Slave with a Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the crappy summary.

The mood is grim as the group of slaves is led into the large palace. The shackles that bind them to each other clink noisily as one of the older men is jostled forward by one of their armor-clad captives for moving too slowly.

Steven wants to speak out against their mistreatment of the old man but he holds himself in check. It wouldn’t do to start causing trouble too early; & besides, as he is now he probably couldn’t make much of a difference aside from causing trouble for the whole group. So he can do nothing, except resolve to try to comfort the old man later.

The twelve of them were herded into a semicircle around a floating marble fountain in the center of a large room. In the fountain was some sort of grey stone; there was something, off, about it, almost sinister.

The doors at the other end of the room draw all eyes as they are opened ostentatiously. Three Alphas walk through the doors. The tallest of the men has slicked back black hair & an immovable scowl on his face. In contrast, the shortest of the men wore a large vicious grin. They were both clad in leather armor that covered their chests, back & shoulders that showed off their muscular arms; blood-red capes flowed behind them as they walked. The shorter one’s armor had a large, white X across the chest plate. The armor looked simple but Steven knew that looks could be deceiving.

In contrast to the other two, the man in the middle wore no visible armor but a simple black shirt & pants. Both of his arms were exposed but it was only one that everyone was paying attention to. His left arm was gleaming silver; it was made from an extremely rare metal called vibranium & was said to have been crafted & infused to his body by a powerful warlock. Although it’s hidden by the shirt, they all know that there is a red star emblazoned on the shoulder. Even without seeing the man’s hard face, long brown hair & cold blue eyes, that arm is more than enough to convey his identity. This land’s deadliest killer who brings only fear, despair, & death to the people of Levram; he is known only as the Winter Soldier.

The three men step between the prisoners & the fountain.

“All right boys & girls” the man with the X addresses them, but Steven knows that his name is Rumlow “line up in front of the fountain.”

No one immediately moves to obey Rumlow, most likely out of fear from being face to face with the Winter Soldier, Steven figures. Rumlow doesn’t seem to mind it, but the same can’t be said for Rollins, the taller man.

“He said, line up in front of the fountain!” he shouts “If you can’t follow even those simple orders then you’re not going to last very long here.”

This of course does nothing to diminish the level of fear in the room, but nonetheless the slaves do what they were told to.

The one who ends up at the front of the line is the old man from earlier. Like the rest of them his ‘clothes’ that are more like sacks with holes are dirty & torn from nights spent on dungeon floors. His skin is tanned & he still has some muscle on his bones; his hair is gray & long but mainly only occupies the back of his head.  The Winter Soldier gestures him forward with a metallic finger. When the main is only inches away, the Soldier finally speaks.

“What is your name?” his voice is as even & emotionless as the rest of him; when the old man doesn’t answer immediately he asks again, just as calm.

“Ludo, sir” the man seems to have found the strength to keep his voice from wavering, but it’s not very loud.

The soldier nods anyway & asks another question “And what was your crime Ludo?”

Steven glares at the question. It’s no secret how many servants die each month in this place, The House of Winter, so it’s no secret that being sent here is basically a death sentence. But this, wanting to know why each of them deserved to die here? This is beyond morbid.

“I- I couldn’t afford to pay the tax in my village.” Ludo whispers.

“Is that all? Too bad” Still there is no emotion or empathy in the man’s voice.

He reaches into the fountain with his left hand & when he pulls it out a small green serpent has tangled its way through the gaps between his metal fingers. The old man’s eyes are transfixed on the snake as if nothing else in the world exists. The Soldier raises the serpent up to the old man’s neck; Rumlow & Rollins stare in anticipation, the other slaves look away in horror, & Steven continues to glare.

“You” have been found guilty of crimes against Der Schädel & this is your punishment.”

The serpent wraps itself around the man’s neck & bites its own tail; its body becomes a strange black metal that Steven knows can only be removed upon the wearer’s death & that trying to break it would only cause two more to form with an even tighter grip. This is the symbol of Hydra’s subjugation.

“You are to stay here in servitude of this house for the rest of your life” The Soldier continues before waving Ludo off in favor of the next person in the line, a young red-haired Alpha woman.

It goes on the same way with the soldier asking their name, then their crime, & finally placing a serpent on them so Steven’s attention drifts away. He is thinking back on the safety measures & intruder deterrents that he observed on the way to the palace; it isn’t until there are only three people left in line that he refocuses.

The Omega in front of the Soldier can’t be more than twelve yet she stands with her chin held high.

“What was your crime, Alexis?” the Soldier seems genuinely curious as he asks this time.

“I committed no crime” she says unafraid “My father fought against Hydra’s tyranny & I was taken hostage, because you people are afraid of him & people are afraid of him & people like him; people who can inspire others to fight!”

This girl’s father is part of this country’s resistance group against its own corrupt leaders? That’s the kind of thing that Steven can respect, but given the situation that Alexis & her father are in now, it cause more problems for the resistance if they have the man under their thumb. From the Soldier’s next words it seem that he & Steven have a similar thought process.

“And how long do you think before your father starts to betray those very people in order to keep you safe? That is how hostage situations normally work.”

Alexis takes a step back but Rollins grabs her by the wrist, “You’re wrong, no matter what happened to me, my father would never betray the people.”

The Soldier looks to be thinking it over for a moment “Maybe you’re right, maybe he wouldn’t betray the people even for you, but he still loves you, so how long until he gets drunk enough to try to rescue you himself? I think we both know how that would turn out.”

For the first time tonight even Rollins allows a hint of a smile to creep onto his face. Alexis is at a loss for words so the Soldier continues speaking.

“It’s just a fact of life Alexis. One way or another, the people you look up to the most will end up letting you down.”

He lets the serpent wrap itself twice around her wrist & waves her towards the group of previously interrogated slaves. One of the women gives the girl a tight embrace as she finally lets herself cry.

The man in front of Steve walks towards the Soldier without being beckoned. He looks to be only a year or two older than Steven himself. His skin is dark & his shoulders are set.

“My name is Sam & I’m here because I killed a member of Hydra’s guard.”

Steve is shocked by the flat-out admission & apparently so is the Soldier, or he at least raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Why?”

“When my father died it fell to me to watch over my mother & sister; they’re both Omegas. My brother-in-law died recently, leaving my sister to go through her heat alone. One of the soldiers that Hydra has stationed in our town decided to try & help himself.”

“Well it wasn’t very smart of you to do Sam.” The Soldier’s tone isn’t the least bit condescending, yet Steven can’t help but feel that not only Sam, but all of them are being talked down to.

“He deserved it” is all that Sam says in response.

“I don’t doubt it, especially if he wore the emblem of Hydra yet let himself be killed by a villager; even one who did serve.” Sam seems surprised that the Soldier knew he was also a soldier, & Steven is a little curious himself. “What you did was stupid because now you’re locked up in here & there’s no one to protect your family now. Did you even think about that Sam?”

“Of course I thought about it. It’s all I’ve been able to think about since I got locked up.”

As Sam bows his head so the serpent can be placed on his neck Steven can see the man’s anger & resentment, but underneath that there is fear; & even worse, underneath that there is acceptance, acceptance that nothing he can do can change things.

This is what happens in Der Schädel. This is what the government, really Hydra, does to it’s people. This is why Steven is here, behind enemy lines, like this.

\-------

_“_ _Steven, you know you don’t have to do this._ _” Says the elderly woman standing above the table he lies on._

_“Peggy”_

_Technically she’s Director Carter, Founder of SHIELD, even though she’s officially retired. She’s achieved so much in the decades that they’ve been apart but every time Steven looks at her he still sees the strong, beautiful, intelligent woman that he fell in love with._

_“Don’t you Peggy me; I can’t believe you’re actually going through with such a foolhardy plan.”_

_“It was my plan” Steven says with a fake frown._

_“Which just makes it all the more foolhardy” she says, but there is softness in her voice & a smile playing at her lips._

_“Foolhardy as it may be Miss Carter, it could also be our best chance to learn more about Hydra’s plans & possibly take one of their strongest pieces off the board; & the person with the best chance of pulling this off is the Captain.”_

_Steven & Fury didn’t always see eye to eye, no pun intended, but they shared a sort of mutual respect. They both did what was best for Levram even if they didn’t always agree on what methods were acceptable. _

_Right now the methods involved Steven being stark naked on a table with strange markings covering his large body from the neck down. Speaking of stark naked…_

_“Hey Tony?”_

_The alchemist in question looks up from where he is marking the heel of Steven’s foot._

_“You’re sure this won’t have any side effects, right Tony?” Steven asks nervously. He knows that he was once small but ever since he woke up in this era he can’t remember much from that back then. He does know from historical documents that he had so many ailments that it’s a miracle he even made it to this age. Somehow reverting back to that has been a secret fear of Steven’s, which makes his decision to risk it on himself seem even crazier._

_Tony puts the small paintbrush to the side & sighs as he explains the spell for the fifth time today._

_“The spell won’t reverse the magic that made you into the Captain; it’ll just restrain it. You’ll still have faster healing, speed, & more strength & stamina than a normal person; just not as much as you do now, & obviously you’ll be small & skinny.”_

_“And there’s no chance of some old staggering illness rearing its ugly head?” Steven partly jokes._

_“Not unless it’s a supervirus.”_

_“Is that a thing?” Steven asks completely seriously._

_“No” Stark retrieves a small wooden box & pulls out a strange looking spider “I’m done with the runes, now we’ve just gotta get this over with.” _

_He places the spider onto Steven’s chest where it instantly begins to burrow underneath his flesh. Steve grits his teeth & forces himself to bear the ever increasing pain. Out of the corner of his eye he sees the markings on his body retreating towards the spot where the spider digs. Now there is new pain beginning at the tips of his fingers & toes; its fire spreading towards the center of his body, on the heels of the runes. _

_When Steven finally passes out the last thing he hears is someone’s screams._

\------

Finally Steven is face to face with the man who has personally killed hundreds of his people, including close comrades. It’s not the first time that the two of them have ever been this close to one another, but it’s the first time they’re not trying to kill each other, among other things.

_No! Damn it Rogers, now is not the time to be thinking about that!_

So Steven steels himself & tries not to focus on the Soldier’s eyes, or his lips, or the fact that he smells just like he did in Domus Cloud, or the fact that he remembers how the Soldier smelled in Domus Cloud. Oh dear God, this is off to a bad start!

“Excuse me?”

Now Steve really feels like he’s gonna explode because please tell him he didn’t just say that out loud.

“Huh?” is the only thing that comes out of Steve’s mouth in response.

“You said, & I quote ‘Oh dear God, this is off to a bad start!’” It’s uncanny how he manages to capture the embarrassment in Steven’s voice “I’m actually inclined to agree with you.”

And for the first time tonight, the Soldier is smiling, except it’s not a smile so much as a smirk, & it’s a smirk that Steven knows well. It’s a smirk that’s shown up whenever the Soldier’s managed to slip past the Captain’s shield to get to his target. It’s a smirk that was there when the Captain was in a desperate situation & the Soldier was the only one who could help him. It’s a smirk that simultaneously looks out of place on his usually expressionless face & also like it belonged there all along. It’s a smirk that has never failed to piss Steven right the fuck off.

“My name is Steven” he says flatly.

“What was your crime?”

“Trespassing”

“Where?”

“Dunno. I was just walking along until suddenly I’m being slapped in irons.”

The Winter Soldier chuckles. He actually chuckles. Rumlow & Rollins look they've just seen a Pegasus prance through the room.

“You’re gonna be a handful; aren’t you?”

“I- I don’t know what you mean.” Steven tries to look away but the Soldier grabs his chin & looks him right in the eye.

“You’re small & thin, but you’ve got muscles & you hold yourself like a fighter; you’re used to people underestimating you & you use that to your advantage.”

He’s right. Steven’s only had this body for a week but the prison they were being held in had a lot of jerks who liked to hassle others, especially mild-looking Omegas & needed to be taught some manners. He didn’t even have to hold back that much because he was already weakened, but he did have to make sure that his fighting style didn’t get too fancy otherwise his jailers might’ve thought twice about sending him here.

“I can also see in your eyes that you have problems obeying authority” the Soldier leans so close that his lips graze Steven’s ear & whispers, “but don’t worry, I’ll break you of that.”

Steven didn’t even notice that the Soldier had pulled a serpent from the fountain until it’s raised in front of his face. Steven takes a deep breath, closes his eyes & bares his neck, waiting to feel the creature slither across his throat like a noose. But that’s not what happens. Instead Steven feels a warm hand take his own; he opens his eyes to see the serpent wrap itself around his slim wrist & then turn to metal. Steven doesn’t understand; all of the other men & even some of the women have had the serpent on their neck, he’s never seen a man with one on his wrist.

“I thought all of the men had them on their neck.” Steve says.

“They do” is the response he gets.

“So why have you put mine on my wrist like a woman or child?”

“I think you just answered your own question.” & there’s that damn smirk again, “I’m sure you & your fellow servants will have a great big laugh about it.”

Before he can respond Steven is herded with the rest of the slaves & while the Soldier leaves through the door he came from, Rumlow & Rollins stay behind with the guards. Rumlow is the one who addresses them.

“All right listen up. I’m sure you’ve all heard the stories about this place; well let me tell you right now that they’re mostly true.” Rumlow steps up & assesses each of them one by one, “If you keep your head low & do what you’re told when you’re told, it’s less likely that you will be horribly dismembered. Unless the Soldier’s in a bad mood, in which case, you’re all pretty much fair game.”

Now Rollins takes the chance to speak up.

“We don’t much care how you slaves interact with each other. There is an established pecking order here & you’ll learn it soon enough. As for your duties here at the House of Winter; each week you will draw lots to determine your jobs for that week, unless you happen to be noticeably skilled at a certain task, which I doubt.”

Back to Rumlow.

“Obviously there are certain areas of the palace that are off limits without the proper authorization. Anyone caught trespassing” & Steven doubts it’s a coincidence that Rumlow happens to be walking right in front of him as he says this, “will be dealt with swiftly & severely.”

With that the group is led out of the room by the guards. Before they are out Steven notices two servants pushing the fountain towards the door that the Winter Soldier left through. Steve makes a mental note to track one of them down & try to coerce them into letting slip where it’s kept. If he can somehow get it back to SHIELD maybe their mages or Tony could figure out a way to reverse the effects.

They are lead underground to a large room with several hallways branching off from it. Each of the guards took four prisoners down a hall. As they go down the halls Steven notes that with each passing set of doors things get more & more bleak. Rollins wasn’t kidding about the pecking order; the doors started off ornate but at the end of the long hall are only metal cells & dirt floors. Clearly the different types of rooms are meant as incentive to compete with each other, but also to keep ahead of everyone else. After all, if people can get upgraded why can’t they be downgraded; or maybe worse?

The guard opens two cells. He sends two men into one, & Steven & the man Sam into the other, because they either have no problems locking up an Omega with an Alpha, or they just don’t care. The only things in the cells are two thin mats & even thinner blankets.

“Enjoy your stay ladies” the guard laughs as he locks their cell door before heading back down the hall. Only one of the other cells in this hall is occupied & the person inside is already fast asleep, so it just the four of them.

Steven stands around awkwardly as Sam fruitlessly tries to shake the dirt off of the mat. He had planned on being locked up, but he hadn’t planned on having a cellmate. He softly grazes a palm over his chest.

\------

_Tony pokes at the mark on his chest from where the spider bore into him, where the spider is still inside him. Steven’s frame is so much slighter; he’s surprised he can’t see the arachnid’s indentation underneath his skin. It’s odd waking up so much smaller than you were when you fell asleep. Steven wonders if this is how he felt when Erskine first turned him into a super-soldier._

_“This is how you can communicate with us. Just press two fingers over this mark & whatever you say & hear, we’ll hear it too. Tap your fingers twice over it to cease transmission.”_

_“What about the spell?” Steven asks anxiously “You said there was a way for me to reverse it if I needed to.”_

_“_ _You put your palm over your chest; not right now!” Tony shouts when Steven moves to act out his commands “Then you say this;_ ripple amach cosúil leis an taoide. _This will_ _cause your power to flow back into your body, like what happened before but in reverse._

_Steven visibly flinches & Tony seems to pick up on it._

_“Don’t worry, it’ll happen much more gradually; in fact, you’ll barely feel a thing.”_

_“But what if I need it back right then & there?”_

_Tony frowns & pauses, clearly debating whether or not he should tell Steven about this. Finally he relents, “You would say _borrtha amach cosúil le stoirm _which would cause your power to surge back into your body along with indescribable pain much worse than what you went through when I put the spider in & I seriously don’t recommend it.”_

_“Okay then, last resort only.”_

_“Obviously I don’t have to tell you not to draw attention to yourself when you do this.”_

_“Of course”_

\------

“So, would you prefer the left side or the right side of the floor?”

Steven turns his attention back to Sam, who has a friendly smile on his face. Strange to see considering the situation that they were in; but who was Steven to bring the man down now?

“I dunno; I’ve never really given it much thought” Steven drawls “after all, the dirt on one side of the room is the same as the dirt on the other side.”

“Don’t you know man? There’s this thing called Feng Shui, some monks I met on my travels taught it to me.”

“Is that so?” Steven asks, genuinely curious.

“Yeah, they believed that the placement of objects in a room could affect the flow of spiritual energy.”

“So how would we need to make things to keep our energy good?”

“Man, I have no idea.”

Steven can’t hold back his laughter now “So I guess it really doesn’t matter where I sleep.”

“Guess not” Sam says with a smile “although some people do have preferences, like they always sleep facing east. A lot of soldiers usually prefer to sleep with their backs to the wall, even after they get away from the combat.”

“And are you one of those soldiers Sam?”

Sam is silent for a while & when he does finally speak he avoids Steven’s eyes.

“I was actually in the Sky Patrol.”

“Get outta here!” When he first woke up Steven had heard the stories about men & women who took to the skies on tamed dragons it seemed much too surreal, even for a world filled with magic. But now he’s actually in the same room with one.

“You rode a dragon; what’s it like?” Steven can’t help feeling like a little kid meeting a famous hero, but right now he can’t bring himself to care.

Sam chuckles softly & lifts his gaze back to Steven, “Her name was Aithusa; she was always so bright & happy, even when I certainly wasn’t.”

“But wait” Steven says “If you were part of the Sky Patrol, you would’ve at least gotten a chance a trial instead of being sent here.”

“I was discharged. Like I said before, my brother-in-law died so I had to look after my family; plus Aithusa became too depressed to fly after her mate died. Considering her & my sister, some people might think I’m bad luck.”

“Sam, what happened was terrible but none of it was your fault.”

For a moment Sam looks like he doesn’t quite agree & Steven wonders that there might be more to the story. But Sam shakes his head & sighs, “You’re right, but just because you know that, doesn’t mean you necessarily believe it.”

Steven can’t exactly argue with that logic. He knows that he ended up frozen trying to save the world; that he gave up his life with Peggy so that she could have a life. But sometimes he finds himself wondering if there was anything he could’ve done to save both the world & himself.

“So what’s your story Steve?”

_‘My story?’_ Steven thinks to himself _‘You mean the fact that I’m actually the Captain, bane of Hydra’s existence for the past sixty-something years & that I’ve infiltration the base of their most feared assassin in order to destroy this vile organization from the inside out?’ _Sam seems like a trustworthy guy but Steve doesn’t think he should go spreading that around.

Instead he lays himself down on his mat & says to Sam, “Nothing special really; I was just in the wrong place at the right time.”

Sam lay’s down on his mat facing Steven “Are you ever going to tell me what that’s supposed to mean?”

Steve gives the other man a small smile “Maybe someday. Good night Sam.”

“Good night Steve.”


	2. Allies & Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title pretty much says it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter ended up longer than I thought it would be. Sorry if it runs on in some places. This is unbeta'd so sorry for any errors.
> 
> Also lot's of thanks to everyone who read the first chapter & came back for more.
> 
> PS. Going over this chapter, I found a pretty glaring error at the part with the Soldier, Rumlow, & Rollins. Part of one paragraph had ended up in the middle of another paragraph & it made no sense whatsoever. I guess this is what I get for not double-checking before posting. Anyway it's fixed now; if u spot anymore errors like that could you please let me know?

This mission was not getting off to a great start.

Apparently the guards assigned to wake the prisoners in the cells have decided that splashing ice water on them is the best way to do so. While Steven & Sam can attest to its effectiveness, the knowledge doesn’t exactly lift their moods as they are forcibly dragged from their cells.

“Where are you taking us” Sam asks the guard that has him by the wrist.

“Showers” the man grunts out in response from behind his helmet “Now shut up & walk.”

 So far the worst part about this assignment, in Steven’s humble opinion, is the amount of jerks he’s had to put up & the fact that he has to resist every urge to sock one of them in the jaw. But for the sake of the mission Steven bears it. It’s not like he didn’t expect this sort of treatment anyway.

He is surprised however, when they reach a fork in the path & Sam is taken in the opposite direction as him.

“Where is he taking Sam?” Steve asks the guard.

“Separate showers for Alphas & Omegas; or would you prefer we leave all of you alone together, naked & wet?” the guard answers with a leer “I wonder how long a pretty little thing like you would last.”

Steve glares at the guard but says nothing until they come to a cold metal door.

“Undress, you’ll be given a uniform when you’re finished.” the guard orders.

Steve doesn’t even bother asking questions, he just lets his still-wet rags drop to the floor before opening the door & stepping inside, naked as the day he was born.

Any relief that Steven had felt when he heard that Alphas & Omegas showered separately was crushed by the complete lack of privacy in the room. It’s not like he’s never showered in front of other people, but those were soldiers, & even then the men & women showered at different times unless it couldn’t be helped, & there are not only women but children here as well. The room was large & circular with sprays of water jutting from the mouths of stone serpent’s heads evenly distributed around the circumference; also several heads were mounted on the ceiling to create a large cascade of water in the center of the room.

Steve sighs & makes his way to an unoccupied showerhead, very carefully making sure to keep his eyes on the tile. It’s quite unsettling to be bathing underneath the unblinking gaze of the snake; it almost feels as if at any moment it could come to life & devour him whole. Steve frowns down at the metal serpent wrapped around his wrist & supposes that that’s pretty much the situation that he’s already in.

“It takes a while but eventually you forget it’s there.”

Steven turns so quickly to his left in order to see the man who spoke that he almost slips on the wet floor. Even with the sound of running water filling the room Steve definitely should’ve notice someone walking right up to him. Was he really that distracted?

“Whoa, easy big guy” says the man in a demeanor as if he were calming a spooked horse. The man had fair hair & wasn’t too tall but his arms & chest were well developed & his eyes were focused even with the water assaulting the side of his face. If Steve had to guess he’d say the man was an archer.

“Sorry about that” he continues “having someone strike up a chat in the showers is something you’ll get used to as well.”

“Just because we get used to it” interjects a brunette woman on the other side of the man “doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it to us Barton.”

“It’s how you & I became friends though, Helena” Barton replies with a sly smile before turning back to Steven with his hand held out.

 “Clint Barton, but you already knew my last name.” Clint keeps his hand outstretched as he waits for Steve to reciprocate.

“I’m Steven, Steven… Grant.” No one outside of a select group knew the Captain’s true identity as Steve Rogers, & there’s even less chance of him being recognized now, but he still didn’t feel right about giving his identity to a stranger. Even so, Steven firmly shakes Clint’s hand.

Clint winces a little when they let go of each other’s hands.

“That’s quite the grip you’ve got there.”

“Yeah” Steve laughs awkwardly while internally yelling his own ear off. _You’ve gotta watch your strength damn it or you might as well wear a sign that says ‘LOOK AT ME, I’M A SUPER-SOLDIER!’_

“How long have you actually been here Clint?”

“Coming up on four years” Clint answers, but the warmth in his voice has faded slightly “I know it doesn’t seem like much, but in a place like this…”

“No Clint, I get it.” If Clint has been here for that long then it means he could be a wealth of information, but it also means that he’s endured the horrors of this place for four long years. Who knows what that could do to someone?

Steven settles his hand on the other man’s shoulder reassuringly… at least until he remembers that they’re both naked & quickly yanks it back down to his side. Clint seems to find Steven’s embarrassment quite amusing as they both continue washing.

At least the guard had kept his word about Steve getting new clothing after the shower; not that it was that much better than what he’d had to begin with. The shirt was itchy around the collar & the pants seemed to be made of the same thin material as the blanket, not to mention that they were too big for Steven, much to the amusement of the guards.

“Not a lot of men can pull of a lilac ribbon around their waist.” Clint says in what Steve thinks is supposed to be an attempt to cheer him up.

“I just want this day to be over” Steven grumbles as he, Clint, & the rest of the Omegas are led back above ground & into yet another large room. This room however, had a large cauldron on a pedestal in the center of it. On the wall behind the cauldron was a tapestry that ran from the ceiling to just above the ground.

The tapestry shows a man with the backdrop of a stormy sky. His hair & beard are both long & golden, as is the armor he wears. His face seems young but his eyes hold knowledge beyond his years. Those same eyes are looking down over them all & Steven wonders what they all must look like to him.

There were six sets of steps leading up to the cauldron. _‘I guess this is where we get our jobs from’_ Steve thinks. He decides to take the time look around the room  & get a read on the other servants. At first glance it seems there must be over one hundred of them.

It isn’t long before Steve spots the young girl, Alexis, with a group of other small children; it seems they all prefer to stick together. Where are their families? Did their families even come with them to this place? What if they did but they’re not here anymore?

The more Steven thinks about it, the angrier he gets. These people are all prisoners in a war that their own country declared on them. After Hydra is defeated for good, he’ll personally come back & burn this place to the ground.

“Hey, Steve!” A familiar voice calls out from the crowd. The first thing that Steven notices when Sam makes his way over to them is the cut on his cheek.

“What happened to you?” Steve asks as he stands on his tiptoes to get a better look at the wound.

“Well, apparently it’s a rule in this place that whenever new Alphas show up, the old ones have to put them in their place.”

“Let me guess” chimes Clint “pudgy guy, bald, scruffy beard, & a shorter one with a ponytail?”

“How’d you know?”

Clint tilts his chin past Sam’s shoulder. Sam & Steven turn to see that the two men in question have been glaring at them from across the room. Compared to them, Sam looks like he’s just been in a pillow fight.

“Guess their bark was worse than their bite” Steve says with a small chuckle.

“Yeah” Clint agrees “those meatheads are pretty much all bark unless their boss Hugo is around to back them up, & even then they usually ends up just being spectators while Hugo cleans up their messes, which incidentally is the only kind of cleaning I’ve ever seen him do, but I’m rambling; so Steven, when are you gonna introduce me to your friend?”

“Wha-?” it takes a second before Steven’s brain catches up with Clint’s words “Oh, sorry. Clint, this is Sam; we share a cell. Sam, this is Clint; he came up to me in the shower.”

“Excuse me?” Sam exclaims & Clint assures that, it wasn’t like that.

“Hey, you guys better get in line for your jobs.” Clint reminds them after a few minutes of banter.

“What about you?” Sam inquires.

“I already have a permanent job in the library. One of the perks of being a lifer, I guess.”

“Seems like a pretty lazy idea, having us pick our jobs at random” Steven says; to which Clint mutters something under his breath. “What was that?” Steven asks the man.

“Oh nothing, now get your butts moving.”

When Steve finally steps up to the cauldron & sticks his hand inside he didn’t expect to feel smooth stones at the bottom. He digs around a little before grasping one at random & for just a brief second, he thinks he can hear someone whispering, but only for a second. Steven looks down at the stone in the palm of his hand; it is a black oval with red writing on the surface.

_GROUNDSKEEPING_

That’s not too bad, Steve thinks; it gives him an excuse to roam the grounds of the palace while he looks for anything that might be hidden or useful. When he & Sam meet back up with Clint he raises his stone for both of them to see.

“Groundskeeping? Tough break” Clint says to Steven, & then “What about you Sammy?”

“Dusting books in the library” he answers.

“Sweet, we’re both in the library” cheers Clint.

“How many people do they actually need working in a library?” Sam inquires.

“It’s a big library.”

When the three of them exit the room to head for their jobs Steven asks where he actually needs to go in order to do his job. Before Clint can finish telling him something about needing to bring his stone wherever he goes, they hear a commotion around the corner.

They find two Alphas; a tall muscular man with the sleeves ripped from his shirt, showing off the tattoos on his forearms; & a beautiful woman with a shock of red hair flowing past her shoulders. Steve recognizes her as part of the group that arrived with him last night.

“It’s simple” says the man to the woman “you’re one of the ones who just got here, so it doesn’t seem fair that you get a cushy job like changing linens, right off the bat. Really I’m doing you a favor, so you don’t get too soft when the real work hits you.” He even gives an amused smirk that he probably thinks is charming. At least when the Winter Soldier smirks, Steve can feel himself swoon for just a fraction of a second before remembering how much stress is associated with it.

Luckily the other Alpha doesn’t seem like the type to be intimidated easily. “I’ll take my chances, thanks.”

Unluckily, it seems that the big guy doesn’t know when to take a hint. He grabs the woman’s arm as she turns to leave, & from the looks on both their faces it seems very likely that a fight will break out. That’s the last thing any of them need right now.

“The lady said she didn’t want to trade” interrupts Steven as he approaches the Alphas “maybe you should respect that.”

“Maybe you should keep your nose out of other people’s business runt” the man spits back “unless you’ve got a good job to trade.”

“Sure” Steven smirks as he holds up his stone for the Alpha to see “you like pulling weeds?”

“Fucking Groundskeeping” the Alpha spits out, holding up his own stone with the same job as Steven’s “I don’t have time for shit like that.”

“How about you try doing the job you were given for once Hugo” says Clint as he & Sam approach, poised to back Steve up if necessary “instead of trying to steal all of the easier jobs.”

“You know it’s survival of the fittest here Barton, & you Omegas shouldn’t be picking fights with guys like me if you know what’s good for you.”

“What about guys like me?” asks Sam, glaring at Hugo the entire time.

“Guys like you shouldn’t get so cocky” Hugo literally growls, biology taking over now that his dominance is being directly challenged by another Alpha. “You may have beaten those two clowns but don’t think for a second that you can stand up to me.”

The three of them turn to see that the two Alphas that tried to jump Sam in the showers had snuck up behind them; _so much for not getting into a fight._

“Just take it”

Steve is shocked to see the woman holding out her job stone out to Hugo.

“Hey, you don’t have to do that” Clint tries to reason, but the woman ignores him & Hugo takes her stone.

“Smart girl” he says as he tosses his own stone to her before tossing that smirk at Steven, his eyes drifting down the Omega’s arm “You’ve gotta admit, gardening is best left to the womenfolk.”

Steven’s hands clench into fist but someone is holding him back as Hugo & the other two walk away; it is the woman.

“Come on” she says to him “we have a job to do.”

And then she is leading him out into the courtyard & Steven has no choice but to follow. He can hear Sam & Clint shouting their confused goodbyes in the background.

When they reach the shed where the tools are supposed to be held Steven is surprised to find that there is no hint of an entrance. Steven thinks back on Clint’s words about needing to take his stone with him wherever he goes, which gives him an idea. However, before he can test his theory the woman is waving her stone in front of the shed. Instantly the wall disappears & the woman steps inside, so Steve does the same.

The room is much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside but that’s nothing that Steve didn’t expect. No, what really throws him for a loop is the way that the Alpha crowds him up against the wall & uses her stone to seal the hole in the wall.

“Um, what are you doing ma’am?”

“I wanted to talk to in private” she says, her hands still bracing him by the shoulders against the wall.

“Well we’re in private now, so talk” Steven narrows his eyes at the woman but he can’t seem to get a read on her; is this because he stepped in with her & the other Alpha?

“You made a very reckless move back there. If that muscle-brain back there had decided to start something”

“I would’ve handled it” Steven interrupts, more than a little ticked off “besides I only stepped in to keep the two of you from fighting.”

Steven can practically hear the sarcastic remark playing at the woman’s lips, so he’s surprised when she backs away from him & pulls a small pouch from a pocket.

“It’s actually a good thing you showed up when you did” she continues, placing the pouch in Steven’s open palm “I wanted to keep my original job because it seemed like an easy way to snoop around the palace; but when you showed me that you had the same job as Hugo, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to trade, Captain.”

The surprise Steve feels at the Alpha’s words is nothing compared to when he upends the pouch & the object inside falls into his hand, a metal disk with concentric red & blue circles & a star in the center. Steve had thought that he wouldn’t see his shield again until he returned to Levram, & he certainly didn’t expect to see it like this.  It was small enough that he could close his fingers around it & was attached to a thin length of chain like a necklace. Steven looks up from the chain into the eyes of the Alpha.

“Who are you?” Steven demands to know as he takes a step forward.

“My name is Natasha Romanoff; I’m a spy for SHIELD” she says, her expression serious.

“Fury sent you” Steve states, not asks.

“He & former Director Carter agreed that you might need some assistance.” Natasha walks over to one of the many rows of shears & examines them one by one “& Mrs. Carter figured that if they were sending me, I might as well bring your shield along too. I personally can’t see an opportunity for you to use it without blowing our cover.”

Steve doesn’t know what to think right now. It’d be just like Fury to send in an agent without Steven’s knowledge; but Peggy? Also…

“When I was in the prison, before being sent here, they took everything I had with me. How did you smuggle this in?”

“I have my ways. Here” Natasha shoves a work belt into his hand & Steven gets the message loud & clear; the mission is what’s important here, & he’s just going to have to get over himself.

“So” Steven tightens the belt around his waist “should we start with the front of the palace or the back?” This earns a chuckle from Natasha that Steve probably wouldn’t have hear without enhanced hearing.

“You’re the boss on this one, Cap.”

Steven smiles; maybe having a partner would be pretty useful after all.

\------

The Winter Soldier hates meetings; they seem to drone on & on forever & when they finally do end he feels like nothing is actually accomplished. But he doesn’t say a word, not unless there’s something to add; & he always pays attention to every word, even when he’s also lost in the labyrinth he calls his mind.

Most days things are clear to him; who he is, what he is for, & he accepts this. But then there are- flashes, of things. Memory- not quite; instinct maybe, that tell him that the things he does & believes are wrong, & he accepts them too. He doesn’t listen to them though; he knows that he used to be someone else, a real person. He also knows that whoever that someone was, he died & the Soldier was all that was left of his shattered self. So no, he does not go heeding the echoes of a past life; this is his life now, this is what he knows, is good at, is what gives him meaning, & he has no reason to stray from this path.

“What do you think Soldier?” Rollins asks from the seat to the Soldier’s left; Rumlow is on his right & in the center of the table, the holographic image of Lord Pierce shows from the crystal.

Rollins is referring to the plan Pierce suggested to create a skirmish at the Eastern Border of Grestin which would allow the Soldier & a small military force to slip through the southern defenses with greater ease & take down the city from within. Admittedly the plan is solid; the terrain on the southern side of Grestin would work to their advantage if the opposing forces there were spread thin. However…

“In order to enter Grestin from the south we would need to head through Kyurek.” Kyurek & Der Schädel share an uneasy peace as it is; the soldier doubts they would risk retaliation for helping invade another country.

“The King of Kyurek will cooperate, don’t worry Soldier” the projection of Pierce says. The soldier nods his head.

The Soldier lets the other three carry on with the conversation.

He’s getting a new mission soon; that’s good because he hates being cooped up in this gilded cage of a palace. Everyone avoids him, not that he can blame them; sometimes he feels his own temper would scare him, if fear wasn’t an unacceptable status to maintain. There’s only one person here who speaks to him freely & like an equal, but he’s not really in a position to run from the Soldier.

Rumlow & Rollins are, the word friends might be a bit charitable; but they amuse him, like he knows he amuses them. But he knows that more than anything, they’re here to make sure that he remains of value to Hydra.

Then there are the servants. It isn’t often that he finds one of them particularly interesting, but he remembers all of their names & faces nonetheless. Sometimes when he’s holding their cold bodies, assuming their face is still recognizable after he’s done, he’ll look into their eyes & see the same fear that was there when he first met them. It’s not fair to them, he knows this, but life & most certainly death aren’t fair. And that’s what his purpose in this world is anyway. Death.

Damn, why do his thoughts always end up so damn depressing?

There were a few interesting new servants this time though, especially that one Omega; Steven. There was something about the defiance & self-righteousness that reminded him so much of the Captain. The Captain; the echoes in his mind are loudest when the Soldier finds himself thinking of that man & how he wished he’d done things differently back in Domus Cloud.

The Soldier’s attention snaps back to the conversation fully when Pierce says he is visiting the palace in one week.

“Sir” says Rumlow “is something the matter?”

“No, I’d simply like to discuss some things with the three of you in person; also, while I’m there, I’ll be dropping something off into your vault for a little while. I trust that’s not an issue.”

“No sir” the three men answer in chorus.

“Good.”

“Shall we arrange the usual festivities sir?” Rumlow asks with a grin.

“Of course; I shall see you gentlemen in seven days, time.” The crystal fades to a dull blue & the image disappears.

Rumlow is the first one up from his seat “Do you guys think the thing he wants to talk to us about is; you know, the thing?”

“Most likely” the Soldier replies.

“Do you think he’s found a suitable candidate?” asks Rollins.

Rumlow chuckles grimly “He might be coming here to _find_ a suitable candidate.”

The Soldier takes a breath, & holds it.

If Pierce is coming here to search for a candidate he’s most likely going to choose from one of the guards or servants. He may not think any of them are suitable but who knows; Pierce can be a very clever man. But what does he care if he loses one guard or servant? In the end it’s just one less face to remember.

Exhale.

\------

As it turned out, each of the jobs has a sort of designated leader who divvies up the work & also shows new people the ropes; for the Groundskeeping job this person was Helena. Helena was a tall woman, muscular for her age with short black hair & a surprisingly pleasant voice; she was tough but fair. At first she seemed very no nonsense & quickly established that her word was law, whether you were Alpha or Omega. Steven & Natasha were the only new recruits so she after giving the rest of the group their orders she took the pair of them on a tour of the grounds.

After they’ve made almost an entire loop around the palace Steven remembers something.

“We met before, in the showers.” He politely states.

Helena scrutinizes the man for a few moments before clapping her hands in recognition “You’re the poor boy that Clint insisted on harassing.”

“The very same” he laughs.

“He likes to think of himself as some sort of Good Samaritan, helping out people who first get here, scared & lost. His morals are in the right place, he can just be a little odd sometimes.

“He’s a good man” agrees Steven “& you seem like a good person too Helena, & a good judge of character.”

Helena laughs boisterously at the compliments, “Now don’t go thinking that sweet words will get you less work with me young man.”

“Never” even so, a very charming boyish smile is still present on his face “I think Natasha & I can begin now actually.” Natasha nods once in confirmation with a pleasant smile of her own.

“If you’re sure” Helena designates a spot for them to work in & gives suggestions on what they can do.

 

“What are your thoughts on this place Captain?” Natasha asks as they clip the hedges of a garden on the southern side of the palace about half an hour later. Steven actually enjoys the opportunity to try his hand at topiary.

“It’s definitely strange.” he responds contemplatively “For one thing, this place is huge, but not only are we allowed to wander around, we’re expected to. Not to mention that the guards never actually seem to be around; their positioning suggests that they’re more inclined towards protecting certain areas from being accessed than keeping servants in the estate. If I didn’t know better I’d say that escaping this place should be easy.”

“But you do know better.”

Steven sighs “Wherever I go in this place I feel like I’m being watched.” He raises his wrist with the metal serpent up for examination at the same time that Natasha touches a finger to the one on her neck.

“They all come from the same egg which probably acts as some sort of hive mind” Natasha says “If we wanna go anywhere we’re not supposed to be without getting caught we’re gonna need to deal with this.”

“Any suggestions Miss Romanoff?”

“Actually I do.” She reaches into her long red locks & pulls out a small thin flute with a bulbous part near one end “SHIELD thought we might run into some trouble with this so they gave it to me. They tested it on rescued prisoners who had the serpents on them.”

“I don’t understand why SHIELD couldn’t have given me these things, considering the mission was my idea.”

“And how would you have hidden it while we were in the prison?”

…

“So how does it work?” Steven asks after a few moments’ awkward silence.

Natasha smirks & answers, “Even though they don’t exactly look alive anymore, they still act like snakes.” She raises the instrument to her lips & plays a soft entrancing melody. Steve can feel the metal around his wrist vibrating softly, & suddenly the feeling of being watched vanishes.

“Snake charming” he notes in awe.

“Snake charming” she confirms & hands him a small flute of his own.

“Can we use that to get these things off of us?”

 “Unfortunately that’s one thing SHIELD hasn’t figured out how to do, at least not without killing us. Besides, we still can’t try anything right now; meet me here at midnight.”

“I can’t get out of my cell without my cellmate noticing” he tells her.

“Luckily there are plenty of things that you can do with that little flute, & I hope you’re a fast learner.”

 

It was well into the afternoon when Helena came with two apples & cups of water & told them that they’ve done enough for today & that they should go down to the servant’s level & relax. That was when Steven realized that he hadn’t had a single bite to eat since arriving in this place.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice before now!” he rants to Natasha on their way back to the courtyard, “Normally I have to eat much more than a normal person.”

“I know” this causes Steven pause, before he realizes that of course this woman knew things about the Captain that regular people wouldn’t; maybe she even knew the truth about how he’d gotten his body in the first place.

But he decides that now isn’t the time to worry about things like that.

“They must be keeping us from feeling hunger for some reason.”

“They probably don’t want anything distracting us from our work; isn’t that nice of them? Trust me; there are much worse things that they could be doing to us.”

“But don’t you find it odd that…”

His body reacts just moments before his mind puts the pieces together.

A crash of broken glass

A man’s scream

Sensing something approaching fast from above

Steven & Natasha both stop dead in their tracks right before the servant hits the ground in front of them, a metal jug following less than a second later. Steven feels something warm & wet splash onto his face & chest.

Everyone in the courtyard is looking at them; some are screaming & others hastily avert their eyes & go about their business. Natasha is looking down at the body; & Steve, Steve is looking up at the man looking out through the broken window back at him. He is looking at the Winter Soldier.

Steven doesn’t need to look back down at the body to know what happened. Even from three stories away Steven can see that the front of the Soldier’s shirt is drenched, most likely from the water that was in the jug. The Soldier tossed that poor man out of a third story window because he had spilled water on him, & he doesn’t look the least bit remorseful.

_You haven’t changed at all, have you Vanya?_

He feels a warm hand wrap around his clenched fist & shifts his gaze to Natasha, who has a knowing look on her face.

“There’s nothing you can do now” she says. Slowly Steven lets out the breath he’d been holding, unclenches his fist & nods. “Let’s go get cleaned up.”

Steven lets Natasha lead him by the hand, too tired to protest. If there was anything good that came from what just happened it was that now any fantasies that Steven had been harboring about the Soldier were shattered & he could now see the man completely for what he was; the enemy.

The cavernous underground area that they’d been lead down the night before seemed much larger now that it was filled with people & tables that weren’t there this morning; light was shining down from the ceiling, which Steve notes seems higher than it must be. But he doesn’t really care about any of that right now; right now he just wants to punch something as hard as he can.

Natasha leads them down the path opposite the one he went down this morning, into what must be the Alpha servants’ showers. Both rooms were exactly the same except this time it was silent & empty. Natasha turns on a showerhead & thankfully turns away while Steven undresses. When he is done he drops his clothes onto the tile floor & simply stands under the spray of water, unmoving.

After a few moments of this, Natasha finally feels the need to speak up

“Talk to me Steven” she says, even going so far as to put a comforting hand on his bare shoulder.

Slowly the Omega raises his head up to look at the woman “There weren’t that many guards near the western garden” he says, & admittedly it’s not what Natasha expected to hear from him but she doesn’t question it, “the ones that were there were mostly by the hedge maze.”

“You think there’s something hidden in there?”

“Possibly; from what I saw of it, it didn’t look like any gardeners had gone near the place in a long time; maybe we’re not allowed to.”

“You wanna check it out tonight? We might get lost.” she points out.

“Leave that to me.” Steven looks back down to the floor then back up to his new partner “Thank you Natasha, for before; I guess this place just gets under my skin” he says, & that’s close enough to the truth.  

\------

“Would you like the water a bit hotter my lord?” the servant asks from his spot next to the lavish claw-footed tub.

“No thank you Sebastian, this is fine” the Soldier tells his personal servant as he leans lower into the bathwater.

“As you wish Sir.” He limps over to the sink & remains standing, perfectly still.

Sebastian has been the personal servant of the Winter Soldier for the past ten years & is almost as old as the Soldier looks. He’s not like the rest of them who were dragged to this place kicking & screaming Sebastian was trained as a warrior by Hydra from a very young age. A leg infection made it so that he would be more of a liability than an asset in battle, but instead of killing him they gave him to the Soldier as a gift.

His loyalty to Hydra made him loyal to the Winter Soldier, the Fist of Hydra. But even though he greatly respected the man, he was never afraid of him; likely the boy had already looked death in the eye hundreds of times over in his training. The Soldier believes this is why, even with his temper, he has never lashed out at Sebastian. They were both unmade & remade by Hydra to be weapons.

“Sebastian” the Soldier calls out, the water sudsy up to his chin.

“Yes my lord.”

“You remember I told you about the man I threw out the window today?”

“I do”

“When I looked out the window, there was an Omega looking up at me, the same Omega from last night. His eyes were filled with anger & judgment.”

“He has no right to judge you my Lord; he has no idea the hardships you’ve endured.” Though the servant’s voice is even, the Soldier can tell that his indignation is sincere.

“It’s alright Sebastian. Truthfully I was more surprised than upset; this man wasn’t afraid to look me right in the eye.”

“And you are- interested in this Omega, sir?”

The Soldier raises an eyebrow in his servant’s direction, "I think he _is_ interesting; nothing more.”

“Of course sir” Sebastian confirms with a small bow & an even smaller smile.

The Soldier rolls his eyes before completely submerging himself in the water. Sebastian may be the only person the Soldier even slightly trusts, but he doesn’t need to know every thought that goes through his head.

\------

It is well past eleven when Sam comes ambling into their cell, escorted by a disgruntled guard.

“Sam, are you okay; you’re back pretty late.” Steven says from down on his mat.

“Sorry man” Sam answers as he drops himself onto his own mat, “Clint was not kidding when he said that the library was big.”

“How big was it?” At this point Steven wouldn’t be surprised if Sam said there was a literal mountain of books in there.

“Big; & it’s not just books in there, I’ll tell you that much.”

“Well I’d love to hear about it Sam” Unfortunately there was no time for that now. Steven rolls onto his side away from Sam & pulls the snake charming instrument from his pocket. He begins to play a tune Natasha taught him that would make sure that Sam & the people in the nearby cells would go to sleep & stay asleep until morning. Luckily Steve happens to be a very fast learner, thanks to his near-perfect memory.

“Hey Steve- do- do you- hear- something?” When the Alpha is deep in sleep Steven pulls his Sam’s blanket up over his shoulders.

It doesn’t take Steve long to get through the lock on the cell door. Sneaking past the guards is no problem thanks to his speed & size. Soon enough he is sneaking up to the entrance of the hedge maze but Natasha is nowhere in sight.

“Natasha!?” he whispers into the night, but there is no answer.

Suddenly he hears rustling from nearby. Steven presses his body flat into the hedge wall of the maze entrance, hoping he’ll go unnoticed. That hope is dashed when he feels fingers tapping at his shoulder. The mission is over right here & now if he’s caught so he launches a fierce punch towards the other person, but it fails. He can feel a hand wrapped tightly around his wrist, but there is no one there.

“Take it easy Rogers, it’s just me” says a familiar voice.

“Natasha?” the woman in question becomes clearly visible as her response “You can turn invisible?”

“It’s a very useful skill in my line of work” Natasha doesn’t say anymore so Steven doesn’t ask.

They turn their attention to the entrance to the maze. Somehow the inside of the maze seems darker than the rest of the night, & the unmistakable pressure of dark magic hangs heavily in the air.

Steven looks up to Natasha, “Ladies first?” he asks with a grin.

Natasha smirks right back at him as they enter the maze “And who said chivalry was just for knights?”

“I actually was knighted”

“Oh really?”

And so they went, into the darkness, with no idea what would await them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this chapter. I told you guys that it ran on in some places. I wanted to end it quickly but my brain kept saying "No you need to add this, now this" I even ended up having to cut a confrontation between Steve with Nat, & Hugo with his gang.
> 
> Also sorry that I can't promise consistent updates since I post the chapter the day after I finish it.  
> Don't be afraid to comment if you feel inclined. Have a nice day.


	3. Web of Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve & Natasha discover some interesting things in the maze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally an action sequence! Sorry for the wait guys, this one was hard for me to write for some reason, especially the flashbacks.  
> Anyways, thanks to everyone who came back for more.

The darkness in the maze was unnerving; shadows seemed to move, wind sounded like whispers as it moved through the leaves of the hedge walls, & they hadn’t moved more than a few feet into the maze. Someone else might’ve gone insane from it, but Natasha isn’t someone else, she’s the Black Widow. The darkness here is nothing new to her but the light emanating from the man walking beside her is certainly convenient.

The chain attached to Steven’s shrunken shield is clenched tightly in his hand; the shield itself floats in the air like a dog on a leash, guiding them through the enchantments of the maze.

“Howard always wanted to find a way to shrink this somehow, make it easier to carry it around without being noticed” Steven says to her “but vibranium’s so hard to enchant once it’s molded into a certain form; I guess that’s not an issue anymore though.”

Steven leads them past two turns before taking a right.

“You have the Winter Soldier to thank for that.” Natasha responds “At first he was a ghost story, but when it became clear just how real he was, everyone became very interested in that arm of his. Somehow Hydra managed to weaponize vibranium even further & no one wanted to be outdone. Problem was, pretty much no one outside of Wakanda had access to any for experiments, at least not until you came back.”

A left

“But that would mean that Fury has vibranium, to be able to figure out how to shrink my shield.”

“It most likely came from that very shield.”

“I don’t see why it’d be so hard for Fury to just tell me about these things before he does them.” He turns to her with an apologetic look on his face “Not to sound ungrateful or anything; I’m glad you’re here, but how can you expect your soldiers to win if you hide half the battle plan from them?”

Another left.

“Fury is a very cautious man” Natasha answers “he believes that if no one person knows all the secrets then no one can give them all up, & he’s right.”

“You seem to be pretty in the know yourself” Steven says.

“Trust me; there are things that not everyone should know.”

A right

\------

_12 years ago_

_The halls of the Triskelion, SHIELD’s primary stronghold in Levram, were always teeming with life. Knights, blacksmiths, mages & more, young & old are gathered from all over to face any kind of disaster that plagues the world. But deep in the depths of the Triskelion’s dungeons there is barely any life; the only light comes from runes, & all magic & movement of the people inside are restricted by a powerful force. That is where the Black Widow is now._

_The particular room she was in was made of all white stones that seemed to change each time her eyes drifted away from it. There were two chairs facing each other in the room & nothing else, not even a door, & she was sitting in one of them. That doesn’t mean that she was surprised when a man silently walked up from behind her & seated himself in the other chair._

_Nick Fury was known throughout the world as one of the most powerful people in all of Levram in terms of both authority & strength. There have been at least a dozen attempts on his life since he became the director of SHIELD that the Widow knows of; the fact that he’s sitting across the room from her demonstrates just how hard the man is to kill. Maybe if they’d sent her instead…_

_“Why don’t we just cut to the chase?” Nick Fury says to her; he sits perfectly straight in his chair while the Widow mirrors his posture. “You are in a very bad position right now.”_

_“I noticed” she responds flatly._

_She thought she’d had all of her bases covered, but SHIELD somehow found out about the job she was hired to do. They had a powerful mage protecting the target & he was able to subdue her magic. She tried to get away but the entire town had been a trap, the people replaced with agents; & she fell for it._

_“The Black Widow is supposed to be a myth; one woman out of a hundred strong enough to carry out the will of Sirius Unum; at least that’s how the stories go.” Fury’s expression never changes as he speaks; just restrained curiosity “Not a lot of people can claim to have made it out of the Red Room alive.”_

_“I’m not a lot of people”_

_“But Sirius Unum fell, & the Red Room supposedly fell with it; so who tells the Black Widow where to strike these days?”_

_“Is that what this is about?” the Widow asks instead, though she knew the answer as soon as the man sat down “You want the Black Widow to work for you. We are cutting to the chase aren’t we?” she says in response to the annoyed look Fury gives her._

_Fury’s features shift back from annoyance to neutrality “Like I said, Sirius Unum & the Red Room are gone, & I’m assuming you technically don’t exist anymore either; you’re a woman without any loyalties who can only sell her skills to the highest bidder.”_

_“I can see why you came down here to recruit me yourself; you’re such a charmer.”_

_“Thanks, I try” Fury responds amusedly “So what’ll it be; stay down here for the rest of your life or join SHIELD & have a purpose again? And maybe you’ll even be proud of the work you’re doing.”_

_“Who says I’m not proud of the work I’m doing now?” she says with a tilt of her head._

_“Just a hunch; I never heard tales of the Black Widow failing a mission before Sirius Unum fell.”_

_The Widow glares slightly at the man across from her but shows no other signs of discomfort “You’d be taking a pretty big risk; like you said, I don’t have any loyalties to anyone.”_

_Fury stands from his seat knowing that the Widow can’t make a move against him, not in here “Let’s just say I have an eye for these sorts of things.” When he has walked past her chair & she feels whatever magic let him into the room about to allow him to exit, the Widow speaks._

_“Pun intended?”_

_Whether Fury intended for her to or not, the Widow can hear the man chuckle softly to himself “We’ll talk again soon.”_

_“Yes, I suppose we will” she answers; & then she is alone in the white room. Of course she’s going to take the offer, but that doesn’t mean things are going to go according to the Director’s plans. After all, getting into bed with a Black Widow can end up being the last thing you ever do._

\------

They are somewhere in the center of the maze, as far as Steven can tell, when it starts. The whispers on the wind become louder & more inhuman; the rustling of the hedge increases in ferocity as well. Steve motions for Natasha to keep going until they reach an open circular space.

When they are in the center they halt, & the miniature shield grows to full size in Steven’s grip.

“When did you figure out how to do that?” Natasha asks with a distracted interest, keeping her focus on the moving walls surrounding them.

“Just now; the shield told me how to do it” he responds. Natasha knew that vibranium was thought to be a living metal by some, but now she was seeing it in action & gaining possibly useful information for later. “Are you ready?”

Natasha gives her answer by summoning electricity from her hands; blinding light crackles & swirls around her fingertips.

Four of them attack first; shooting like cannonballs from each direction out of the hedge wall. Natasha rolls out of the way & manages to hit one of them with a blast of lightning; Steven swings his shield in a semicircle & manages to slice two of the creatures in half. The three creatures turn to ash & blow away in the howling wind. The fourth creature missed them both; it is three feet tall & looks similar to a monkey, except hairless & with roots & leaves sticking out of its green skin. Its eyes are pitch black & when it screeches at them it bares its sharp yellow teeth. But that only means that when Natasha aims a punch in its direction it gets a mouthful of lightning.

Steven has to admit he’s impressed but there’s no time to do so; this time eight creatures shoot from the walls, but instead of flying at the two of them, they land a few feet away & quickly run circles around them.

_Oh great, they’re learning._

Steven flings his shield at a creature approaching from behind & rushes the one closest to him, kicking it with enough force to send it clear over the hedge wall with a high pitched shriek as it turns to ash. He holds his hand out for his shield which promptly returns to him.

Four more circle Natasha who holds her ground, blasting any who decide to make their move on her. But it’s not enough, more & more creatures come from the walls before they can defeat them all. That’s when Steven notices how great the distance between him & Natasha has gotten, & he realizes.

“Natasha” he shouts over the howling wind & screeching creatures “they’re trying to drive us into the walls!” Steven doesn’t know what would happen if they touched the trembling hedges but he doubts it’s anything good. Holding his shield in front of him he crouches down & barrels through the creatures at top speed until he is right next to Natasha, who takes the opportunity to pick off the creatures from afar with her lightning.

The remaining creatures are smart enough to regroup to the other side of the circle as Steven & Natasha make their way back to the center, wary of an attack from behind.

“What are they doing?” says Natasha. The six remaining creatures have grouped themselves into a tight space & after a few moments Natasha can see why. The roots that stick from their bodies are growing & interweaving; their green skin melds together until they form a ten-foot ape creature. With a tremendous roar it charges them on all fours.

Never being one to wait around, Steven charges toward it with equal strength & rams his shield on the creature’s head. While it is reeling, Natasha jumps onto its back & begins firing bolt after bolt of lightning into its head until it stops moving.

“Shit!” she calls out as she jumps off of its back, but it’s too late; roots spring from its back & suspend Natasha in the air by her arms & waist, keeping her from aiming her lightning at it. To Steve’s surprise she is able to pull back against the roots around her arms, but the one around her waist is clearly causing trouble. He flings his shield which cuts straight through the roots; the parts that were around Natasha turn to ash & the creature howls in pain.

Getting up from the ground, Natasha takes advantage of its confused frenzy & chants a string of magic words; one second she’s there, the next, she’s nowhere to be seen. That is until bolts of lightning begin striking the beast from nowhere, & judging from the positions they emerge from, Natasha must be moving very quickly.

Steven once again throws his shield, this time through the creature’s chest. It turns to him & roars but Steven simply smiles & holds out his hand. The shield magically makes its way back to its owner’s hand by taking a detour into the back of the creature’s head; it emerges out of the face, splitting it straight down the middle, each side flopping limply from the neck.

Steven smile turns into a scowl however, when vines from the inside of the creatures head stitch it back together.

“This is getting really annoying” chimes Natasha’s voice from beside him.

“I know” Steve answers without checking to see if she’s actually visible or not “I have an idea; distract it for me.”

“Sir, yes sir” then Steven can no longer catch her scent at his side.

The beast’s head is finally knit back together but before it can move a bolt of lightning strikes the back of its neck. It spins around to face Natasha, who has her fists raised for another strike. But it doesn’t get that far because Steven calls out to the beast, “Hey ugly!”

Even with the creature between them, Natasha can see that Steven has taken up a defensive position behind his shield & with his free hand taps the star on the center. Natasha understands.

Jumping into the air she fires a powerful bolt right through the beast’s chest, aimed straight for the star on the shield, then proceeds to get the hell out of range as the blast is absorbed by the shield. One of the most famous tales of the Captain of old was his ability to turn an enemy’s power back on them, even greater than it was before. The shield lets loose a powerful beam of light which completely engulfs the behemoth; when the light fades there is no trace left of it.

Of course the maze wasn’t done with them yet; from each direction a fully formed ape behemoth emerges from the hedges.

“Why did we decide to come here first?” Natasha remarks as she holds her hands out in front of her, her eyes turning redder than her hair. Steven holds an arm out in front of her though.

“I’ve got this covered; now duck!” He raises his shield above them & a pulse of energy shoots out from it in all directions; the creatures fall to the ground, shaking & sputtering until they combust into ashes. No new creatures take their place; in fact, the maze is silent for the first time since they’ve entered it.

“That was pretty useful; could you not have done it earlier?” she says as she rises to her full height “Not to sound ungrateful or anything” she adds with a smirk.

“I needed time to assess how the magic flowed through the maze when it created new creatures; the pulse I sent out disrupted that flow. The enchantment around the maze is still going strong, so people on the outside still shouldn’t be able to perceive us in here.” Steven responds, & Natasha is starting to see that master tactician that the tales paint him as.

“So we’re not gonna run into any more of those things; good.” Natasha plucks a small twig from her hair.

“I’ll have to undo it when we leave so no one gets suspicious, but now that I know how to do it we shouldn’t have any more trouble in here.”

Suddenly Steven spots a small, rolled up scroll on the ground & bends down to retrieve it “Is this yours Natasha?”

“Don’t touch it!” Steve’s hand pauses midway when Natasha shouts to him. She rushes over & snatches the scroll off of the ground, hiding it in her shirt. Steven gives her a confused look “I’m sorry” she tells him “this scroll is very important to me; I try to keep it close to me, so I must’ve forgotten to hide it before coming here.”

She sounds sincere, but somehow Steven doubts that the spy actually managed to forget a detail like that, especially for something she considers important. It’s probably another of Fury’s secrets, but now isn’t the time to be questioning her. So he doesn’t, & they exit the circle with his shield as a guide.

\------

The Winter Soldier stirs awake in his bed & touches his flesh hand to the other one. This sensation; the metal vibrates as though it were literally shaking with anticipation. But that makes no sense, his arm’s only ever gotten this way when it senses power like its own; the power of a certain shield. The feeling fades almost as soon as he wakes though, as if he were waking from a dream. 

_‘Maybe that’s all it was’_ he thinks as he gets up from the bed  & walks over to the window _‘just a dream’_. He opens the curtains  & looks out over the garden; he can see the maze from here & he can’t figure out why he thought of that at this moment. The moonlight spills into the room & onto his bare chest, illuminating the scars where metal meets flesh.

He frowns down at the sight. This feeling that resided not just in his arm but in the places where it stretches through his body, it’s only come from the Captain’s shield when he uses magic. The Soldier has had dreams about the Captain, not that he’d ever admit it aloud to anyone other than Sebastian; but the shield, impressive as it may be, was never the focal point of those dreams.

But if the feeling was real, then it would mean that the Captain had somehow infiltrated the palace; his palace.

Soon enough he is changed into his reinforced lightweight pants & tunic, excellent for hiding knives, & is walking past his servant’s quarters, out into the hall. There’s no need to wake Sebastian for this, although he’s certain the young man would disagree. Closing the door behind him he makes his way towards the stairs.

Besides; the maze is beautiful in the moonlight.

\------

They come to a stop; Natasha can’t tell what exactly it is, but she knows that Steven feels it too. There is something here, even though the path they are on now looks no different from any other part of the maze, something is hidden here.

“What do you think it is?” the Omega asks her.

“Whatever it is, it’s underneath us; & trying to force our way in feels like a bad idea.” She answers, but then she crouches down & touches a hand to the ground in front of them; her eyes flutter slightly as she whispers the incantation through the cloaking magic. After a few moment’s she springs to her feet & tells Steven “You should hide” before making herself invisible once again.

Right as Steven shoves himself down into a dark corner two men rise from the ground as if it were nothing but a mirage. They walk near Steven’s hiding spot & stop suddenly, confused looks on their faces; Steven looks to be confused as well but makes no sign of moving. Silently, Natasha walks up behind them & grabs the back of their necks, magic pulsing through her palms.

“You are going to go back down &keep the doorway open” the voice is much deeper than Natasha’s own & seems to whisper in the wind; this particular enchantment isn’t mind control as much as suggestion, it can fail if the will of the victim is too strong, or the caster too inexperienced. Neither of these things is a problem.

Natasha undoes her invisibility & motions for Steven to follow her & the guards back down where they emerged from. When they cross the invisible threshold they can see the stairs underneath their feet, leading to an underground passage; as expected, the guards are too dazed to notice the two intruders.

The torchlight of the underground passage causes shadows to jump around as the pair of them explore. They have to creep silently along though, as voices echo through the halls. Aside from the occasional painting of a skeletal many-tentacle red monster, there isn’t much to see, at least until they find themselves in a large room. In the center of the room there is a staircase that leads even deeper underground; there are two other paths leading out of the room.

When Natasha cast the spell to lure the guards outside she was also able to glean some information about this place; it wasn’t much as the men guarding the entrance were never given any details as to what they actually guarded, but she did see something interesting in their minds.

“We should probably split up” she suggests to Steven who gives her an appraising look. Natasha prepares herself to counter his argument; surprisingly enough…

“You’re right” he says “We can make the most of our time that way. We’ll each take a corridor & meet back here in one hour to go further down.”

Natasha smiles “Great, I’ll go this way” & she walks toward the left path.

“Be careful Natasha” Steven calls out to her as he heads toward the opposite path “we still don’t know what’s in this place.”

Natasha stops but doesn’t turn around “You don’t need to worry about me; I’m the best at what I do.” They head down their paths without another word.

\------

_It’s been one year since Natasha’s started working for SHIELD, & throughout that year she’s been the model agent. All of her assignments were completed with ease & she never stepped out of line; well not too far anyway. That isn’t to say that Fury hadn’t still been keeping a pair of eyes on her._

_Currently she was deep in the underground city of Leare in the country of Fricht; more specifically in the bedchambers of Lord Vectus, who had stolen secret documents from the country’s capital & planned to sell them to an emissary of Hydra. Vectus is fast asleep in his luxurious bed when she slips from his arms & out of the bed. After redressing in the silk dress she wore when attracting the attentions of Vectus she grabs the documents & climbs into the window. Before leaving she spares one last apathetic glance at the man in bed; he won’t be able to recall her face upon waking. Good._

_The top of the city is illuminated by large crystals embedded into the earth that shine like stars. There are eight places where great beams of light can transport someone back to the surface; these places are regulated by the country’s government. Luckily they aren’t the only ways to get in & out of the city._

_Silently she makes her way through the busy streets of the lower town, visible yet unseen, until she finds herself in front of an apothecary, a pouch slung across her back. A myriad of smells seem to have seeped into the wood of the shack over the years; various herbs, potions, & miscellaneous animal parts line the tables. There is no one in the front room, so Natasha makes her way into the back._

_“I’m closed for today. Maybe next time you should try coming at a reasonable hour.” A gruff voice decrees from the darkness, but Natasha remains unmoved._

_“You know I couldn’t get back here at all unless I was a serious customer Gordo.”_

_A candle is lit in the room, illuminating the portly shopkeeper sitting on a cot; his wrinkled bearded face looks even redder than usual by the flame._

_“Even so Widow, you could allow an old man his sleep.” As Gordo moves, his dark blue robes drag on the floor behind him; he pulls a scroll from a secret compartment in the wall._

_“What’s so important up top that it couldn’t wait until morning?” he asks nonchalantly, clearly used to the shady dealings in the underground city._

_“Let’s just say that I have something that a lot of people are going to want, & I’d prefer not to be here when they realize it.”_

_“I hope you weren’t followed here with whatever it is you’re smuggling” Gordo says as he writes a spell on the paper that would transport her to its twin on the surface. Something is off though, & Natasha thinks she knows what it is._

_Grabbing a knife that was hidden on her, she holds it up to the man’s throat. “Why don’t you stop hiding behind that mask?”_

_At first it looks as though the man is getting ready for a fight, but after a moment, his shoulders drop & he sighs “Darn; I thought I was doing a pretty good job of it too.” His voice is no longer gruff but even & friendly._

_“Apparently not good enough” Natasha takes a step back from the man as he grows several inches, his face becomes clean shaven & his skin goes paler. Before her, still in Gordo’s now ill-fitting robes, stands the man who was responsible for Natasha’s capture one year ago. “Hello, Sir Phillip.”_

_The knight grimaces; he knows that Natasha only ever uses his title sardonically; although from where he’s standing, he’s the one who should be angry._

_“How did you know I had disguised myself?” he asks._

_“Honestly, I didn’t at first” It was true; Coulson’s magic is virtually imperceptible, even to someone like Natasha; it’s part of what makes the man such a reliable asset “But I’ve had you watching me for so long that I could just tell you were nearby.”_

_“So, were you planning on picking up some monkshood before meeting me at the rendezvous point?” he asks politely._

_Natasha, for once, is too tired for games “You know why I’m here Phil. I was going to take the documents & sell them myself.” There’s no point trying to lie to the man, as Natasha found out early on during her time at SHIELD._

_Coulson’s expression shifts minutely, “To Hydra?”_

_“Hydra’s not the only one who’d be interested in these documents; in fact the only reason I’m here is so that SHIELD can make a copy in case Fricht ever becomes an enemy. “Natasha points out “But I have no interest in helping Hydra further their goals, so you don’t have to worry about that.”_

_“Not even if the payment meant your freedom?”_

_Now he’s giving her that look, like a parent disappointed in their child; Natasha hates how that look has any effect on her at all, especially when she knows she’s earned it._

_“Did you come here to lecture me, Coulson; or did you come here to stop me?” She has contingencies for when SHIELD eventually came after her, & she’s prepared to put down anyone who stands in her way._

_“I’m not going to stop you Natasha” Coulson says as the paper in his hand combusts “although you’ll have to find another way back to the surface. I just want to know why.”_

_“You already said it; my freedom.” she answers._

_“I guess I just thought that after all this time, you’d stopped seeing SHIELD as your prison, & more as a home.” He walks to the door, but before leaving Natasha alone in the room with her new documents; he turns & says “When I report this to Nick, I’ll try to make it so your bridge isn’t completely burned.” Then he is gone._

\------

There are many more people for Natasha to maneuver around down this way; luckily, she’s a master both at drawing attention & avoiding it. She does note however, that a great deal of the men here are not in armor, but black ceremonial cloaks. Even though she is currently invisible, she feels the need to sidestep behind a pillar when a person wearing a silver skull mask looks in her direction. There’s something very ominous about that person’s presence compared to the other people in cloaks; luckily their group leaves quickly enough & Natasha can continue on her way.

The doors are large & fortified, protected by two guards that seem a lot more mentally capable than the ones at the front. Not only them, but a red crystal is embedded into the wall above the doors; she can’t tell what it does but she knows it does something. It looks like she’s not getting in there tonight; not without causing a commotion, but she can do the next best thing.

Hidden in the shadow of a wall, Natasha pulls out a needle-thin blade from her clothing & pricks her finger; the red blood pools there for a second before turning black. The blackness morphs into a tiny spider that she sets onto the ground; it immediately makes its way to the doors. This spider is a special tool in the Black Widow’s arsenal courtesy of the Red Room, & she’s one of very few people who’ve survived receiving it. The spider is a special type of magic that can change itself to match any magic it comes into contact with; for if two magics of the same type interact, depending on how they are used, they can amplify each other, cancel each other out, or in this case, pass right through each other.

For the spider, that crystal might as well be an open doorway into the House of Winter’s hidden treasure room. Once it’s seen everything it needs to see in there it will return to the Widow & show her whether or not Hydra has what she seeks hidden here. In the meantime, there’s still more of this place to explore.

\------

As small as Steven is, sneaking around lit hallways without being seen still proves challenging; he constantly has to duck behind walls & pillars or at one point, even jump up to the ceiling & hang there, waiting for people to pass underneath him. Eventually he found an interesting place to explore.

There were no benches & Steven doubted that this was a place that encouraged piousness, but the room immediately reminds Steven of a church. Albeit one with blood-red curtains covering the walls, gargoyles looming overhead, & an altar in the back of it; but what would Hydra be worshipping down here?

Each step towards the alter sends chills through his body, despite how much brighter the torches seem to burn here. In the center something is wrapped tightly in cloth, even just touching the cloth gives Steven an ominously familiar feeling; whatever this is, he needs to destroy it fast.

He places two fingers to the spot on his chest where the spider is burrowed inside of him. Tony told him that this would allow them to hear whatever Steven said & heard but he didn’t give Steven a way to receive information from them. If this is what Steven thinks it is, then SHIELD needs to know about it as soon as possible, & he needs to know what to do about this, because this complicates things. He needs to be sure as well, but the more he tries to force himself to undo the cloth bindings, the more painful that cold feeling becomes. He feels like if he stays here any longer, he’ll freeze all over again.

Fortunately, something distracts him from these feelings; unfortunately it is the sound of footsteps behind the door. Damn, there’s barely anywhere to hide in this place, except…

Their footsteps echo through the room & through Steven’s already pounding head; from where he’s hidden he has to crane his head to see that there are seven of them in cloaks, the one in the center wears a silver mask. The masked person walks up to the altar & bows their head.

“Open the curtains” they order the other six; the voice is hard & heavily accented but distinctly female. This is confirmed when the person removes their mask to reveal their face; her hair is red as flame & her skin is a very light shade of blue, it reminds Steven of stories of the fae, but they rarely associated with humans.

Each of the others walks over to a curtain & raises their arms; the curtains fold up into themselves to reveal that the whole circular wall is but a window that looks out into a field of stars, the torches throughout the room go out, bathing the room in starlight. From his spot on top of the gargoyle directly above the alter Steve can look out & see for himself. This must be an image to some unknown galaxy considering first that the room is underground, & second, Steven doesn’t recognize any of the constellations he sees.

He looks down & sees that the other cloaked people have formed a semicircle around the woman, who takes the mysterious object in her hands & removes it from the cloth. It’s similar to the woman’s skull mask but instead of silver it is scarred & red, & Steven knows it is no mask; the pain flaring back through him won’t let him believe otherwise.

Silently he powers through the burning behind his eyes; SHIELD needs to hear whatever is happening here, & so does he.

“My master!” she cries to the altar “The day is soon at hand when the stars will align, & Hydra’s greatest weapon shall reveal itself once more. When that day comes the entire world shall know the might of the Skull & you shall be returned to your throne!”

She lifts the face up into the air & the stars begin to blur as if they were moving by at incredible speed; but Steven isn’t focused on the stars. The way the woman holds it causes the red face to be looking directly up at Steven, whose gaze is transfixed in those empty eye sockets; but Steven can see it, the blackness & intense light that lurks within them, showing him things both incredible & terrifying; things he shouldn’t know, that no one man should know. He can feel himself drifting away, losing himself to the light & the dark & wanting to stay there forever; but then…

The doors are open & the woman turns to them, lowering the face back to the altar as she does so, leaving Steven trembling where he lay. It takes him a moment to register that the woman is talking to the newcomer.

“What brings you to our place of worship Soldier?” she asks of the metal armed visitor, suspicion in her voice. Steven risks craning his head past the gargoyle’s to get a better look at the man without even knowing why; somehow seeing the man helps the pain in his head to fade faster.

“My apologies Lady Sinthea; I merely came to pay my respects, I didn’t realize you were holding a ritual.”

Sinthea gives him one last considering look, then relaxes slightly “It is no matter; tonight is merely a formality, in anticipation of the Great Day.”

“I see” the Soldier replies “Either way you should probably assign some better security; when I got here the men guarding the entrance to the temple had the pathway open. When I confronted them about this they claimed they didn’t know how it’d gotten that way.”

_‘Oh no; have they realized that there are intruders down here?’_ Steven thinks, but the Soldier continues speaking.

“I found this on one of them” he tosses the woman a small brown sack; she opens it up & sniffs the contents then scowls; at least Steve thinks she’s scowling, given that he can only see the top of her head.

“I will have them dealt with immediately” she says coldly.

“Already done, my lady” For a second Steven expects him to give her some cocky grin but he keeps his expression neutral in front of the woman. He steps past her & kneels down in front of the altar, bowing his head.

Everyone aside from the woman gives him a wide berth; it seems that even Hydra fanatics fear the Winter Soldier. Steven hopes they’ll talk about something worthwhile soon; he needs to know more about what they’re plotting, if they actually have a way to do what they claim. Luckily he doesn’t have to wait very long.

“Lord Pierce comes in seven days’ time” the Soldier tells her without lifting his head “he brings another item for the vault, says it’s safer here.”

“Pierce’s schemes are of no concern to me” Sinthea remarks with a sneer “Soon Hydra’s victory over the world will be assured & father will recognize my superiority over that man.”

_‘So Alexander Pierce will be at the House of Winter in seven days with an unknown artifact, meanwhile a different faction of Hydra is based here, with a different agenda?’_ Steven hopes that Fury knows how to deal with this from his end.

For the next hour or so they are mostly silent & Steven’s mostly irritated; he’s already missed the meeting time with Natasha, not to mention that he’s ended transmission to SHIELD, opting to relay any important information he overhears later, not that he thinks there’ll be anything to tell. But right now he’s stuck up here until they leave; he can only hope that Natasha’s had better luck.

Finally & seemingly at random, the stars out the window fade away until all is black; the curtains fall & the torches relight themselves. They all stand & head towards the doors, all except for the Soldier; he closes his eyes & scents the air ever so slightly. Steve quickly ducks his head back behind the gargoyle; could the Soldier have caught his scent? That’s not possible; as soon as he & Natasha split up he made it so that even he couldn’t smell himself.

“Soldier?” Sinthea calls out to him. The Soldier nods his head & silently follows the rest of them away.

Steven waits until all eight sets of footsteps are gone before jumping down from his hiding spot & stretching his limbs.

“That was close; I thought he’d spotted you for a second there” Steve barely flinches this time when he hears Natasha’s voice & follows it to where she is standing, visible, against a far side of the wall.

“How long were you there?” Steven asks, surprised by just how tired he sounds.

“I was waiting for you when the soldier showed up. I managed to sneak in here while everyone else was distracted by the lightshow.”

“Lightshow; do you mean the stars?”

“There was a huge blue light engulfing a cluster of the stars.” She states “How did you not notice it?”

“I was, um, distracted” he admits sheepishly, thinking back to the Red Skull’s lifeless face staring at him. Was something important happening & he missed it? All he has to show so far is more questions than answers; they need to make more progress. “Are you ready to go down deeper?”

“Actually, I think we should call it a night.”

“Why?”

“No offense, but you look like you’re about to pass out, not to mention the Winter Soldier’s walking around the place. I know we’re pretty great & all, but I don’t think we’re in a good position to be getting into a fight with him right now.”

Steven grimaces “Do I really look that bad?”

“Honestly, I didn’t think a super-soldier could get as tired as you look, especially not in an hour.”

“I think being here with the Red Skull’s face caused it; how did they even get that anyway?” Natasha simply shrugs, Steven sighs “Maybe you’re right; we can come back some other time. Let’s get out of here.”

 

The trip back into the palace goes without any trouble. Steven will update SHIELD & Natasha picks the lock on her own cell, careful not to wake Alexis as she slinks onto her mat. Laying on her back she can feel the spider returning to her body, sharing all of the information it’s gathered from the treasure room. The artifact she was sent to collect wasn’t there, but she knew this already; it was at the Red Skulls alter being used to power some sort of ritual. The woman Sinthea seemed to think of it as precious from the way she held it. Who was she anyway? SHIELD never mentioned anyone like her.

And then the Winter Soldier showed up. She pulls out two small scrolls hidden in her shirt.

\------

_“Are you ready for your assignment Agent Romanov?” Fury asks from his seat at the head of the War Chamber’s table._

_“Infiltration & recovery with a side of babysitting a miniaturized living legend; what could go wrong?” is her response. She sits atop the table, her legs swinging out over the edge._

_“About that” Fury continues “it would be best if the Captain didn’t know about your extra assignment. For all he knows, you’re simply there to aid in extracting information about Hydra. Also…” he hands her two small paper scrolls._

_“This is a special paper that was developed specifically to neutralize & subdue people with enhanced physical & mystical properties.”_

_“You mean a super soldier” she says unimpressed “You finally came up with something to take down the Winter Soldier.”_

_“Exactly; once he’s touched it, the spell written on the paper will transport him to a specially designed holding chamber. I believe you’re familiar with this type of magic.”_

_Natasha raises an eyebrow at the man “Why are you giving me two of them” although she already knows the answer._

_Nick is silent for a moment, his face giving nothing away “The scrolls aren’t the main objective of the mission. But if you feel you have the need & opportunity to use one of them, do so. I trust your judgment Natasha; you’ll do what’s necessary._

_Natasha nods, because she always does do what’s necessary._

\------

Natasha sits up & places the scrolls back into her shirt.

_Damn it Nick; what have you gotten me into now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh that Fury; who knows what goes through that guy's head? ;)
> 
> As always, feel free to comment. I actually reread the chapter before posting, so most mistakes should be gone. But if you spotted any please feel free to tell me.
> 
> Have a nice day.


	4. Steven's Day Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If only I was nice enough to give Steve an actual day off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... You guys aren't mad about that whole three month disappearing act are you? *Ducks gunfire* Okay, so maybe just a little, but it's not my fault... entirely. I got a job, & responsibilities, & stuff, but I swear I was working on the story as often as my schedule (& tendencies towards procrastination) would allow. Not to mention that this chapter was hard as balls for me to write; I knew how I wanted the ending to go, the problem was getting the story to that point. It just kept getting longer & longer till I ended up with this ten thousand word monster.
> 
> But enough complaining (& excuses), I wanna say thank you to everyone who stuck around long enough to even read this chapter & especially those who've commented & kudos-ed. I hope this chapter was worth the wait because the next one's most likely gonna take a while. Enjoy.

Steven was so tired when he relayed the information about Pierce to SHIELD that he immediately fell asleep afterwards. Unfortunately all good things, he was so tired that even sleeping on an uncomfortable mat on a hard floor seemed good to him, must come to an end. When the guards slam open the cell doors, Steven briefly considers knocking them unconscious & sleeping the day away. But, like a good soldier, he wakes when ordered; unfortunately, feeling like he spent last night banging his shield against his own head.

_Whose stupid idea was this mission anyway? Oh, right._

“Are you alright man?” Sam asks him as they are herded to the showers.

“I’m good” he answers “I guess I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.” Staying up late never actually used to be an issue for him as his body doesn’t need too much sleep. Is it because of how his body is now; or could it be because of what happened last night?

After meeting Clint in the showers they go their separate ways on the way to their jobs. Steven groans as he snails his way through the palace halls towards the courtyard; it’s ridiculous that he’s still feeling this headache. Or maybe it’s not just a headache at all. The last thing he wants to do is be exposed to the remains of his deceased enemy again, but the Red Skull’s eyes held some power in them, power enough to still be affecting him now. Whether or not Hydra is aware of this, Steven needs to know more about it, & how to stop whatever they might use it for.

Another wave of pain passes through his own skull which distracts him from seeing the person that he bumps into. Before he can get out an apology he’s being lifted up by his shirt & slammed into a wall. He has to resist the instinct to break his assailant’s wrist when he opens his eyes. Glaring down at him is one of Hydra’s most notorious commanders, who crafts the bones of his enemies into armor; the man who wears the title of Crossbones, Brock Rumlow.

“Clearly I might as well tear those eyes out of your head” Rumlow growls “’cause you don’t seem to be using them.”

As much as he hates kowtowing to bullies, especially ones like Crossbones, Steven knows he has to play the part of the meek servant “I’m so sorry sir” he stammers out in what he hopes is a meager enough tone “I had a headache, it distracted me from seeing where I was walking; I meant no disrespect.”

Rumlow’s scowl changes to a devilish smile as he lowers Steven to the ground “A headache you say?” he asks with false concern as he brushes off the small Omega’s shoulders “That sounds bad. Tell you what; instead of going to your regular job, how about you take a nice relaxing trip to the library & pick up a book I need.”

Steven doesn’t know what Rumlow is getting at, but he knows it can’t be anything good, so he holds up his job stone for the Alpha to see “That’s very kind of you, but the stone tells me that my job is landscaping today, & according to everyone I’ve met here, the stone is always right.”

Steven tries to politely walk away but Rumlow has other plans; he grabs Steven’s hand that holds his stone & snatches it from him. “If that’s all you’re worried about…” He squeezes Steven’s stone in his hand for a few seconds before returning it to him.

Where the stone once had the word Groundskeeping on it, there was now a new task for Steven

_RETRIEVE BOOK ‘THE BEWITCHING SERPENT’ FOR BROCK RUMLOW_

_4:00:00_

As soon as he looked upon it, the number on the stone changed to 3:59:59 then to 3:59:58 & so on.

“Why is it counting down?” Steven asks, allowing his genuine concern to show in his voice; because who wouldn’t be concerned about this?

“Oh that?” Rumlow says as casually as if Steven had inquired about an old shoe “That’s just the deadline you have to get that book for me. When the numbers are all zero, that’s when you’ll know, _your time is up_.”

With that he begins to walk off, leaving Steven standing there, before he turns & calls back to the Omega “Library’s that way” he points to a direction of the palace that Steven hasn’t seen yet, & then he’s turning a corner.

_Well, isn’t this just the perfect way to start the day?_

 

Even with Rumlow’s ‘oh-so-helpful’ advice, it still took him almost twenty minutes to actually find the entrance to the library in this huge palace. He knows this because the stone in his tight grip counted down every second.

The doors to the library are grand & ornate, just as Steven expected them to be; he takes just a moment to wonder what terrible obstacles await that would make retrieving a book an four hour task. Taking a deep breath, he steels his resolve & pushes the doors open, walking inside.

If Steven’s being honest, he expected the library to be… bigger. Don’t get him wrong, the room could probably fit several small houses inside of it; there were stacks upon stacks of books. Books also covered the walls & pillars reaching up to the impressively high ceiling, but he can still see the boundaries of his room. He’s not even complaining about it really; this means that this task might actually be simple, leaving him more time to explore the library itself. It’s just… compared to what he’s seen of the palace so far, it seems a little tame.

Unfortunately, as Steven steps deeper between the stacks, he realizes he still has no idea where in the library the book is supposed to be. Is that why finding a book could take longer than four hours? Was he expected to search every single inch of this place?

“Hey Steven, what are you doing here?” The voice echoes off of the books, making it difficult to tell where it originated from. Steven turns in all directions but there is no one in sight.

“I’m up here” the voice calls out again causing Steven to look upwards; there he sees Clint, scaling down a book-covered pillar as if it were a cliff. Soon enough, the man is dropping down in front of Steve, two feather dusters attached to his belt.

“Clint, you have no idea how glad I am to see you right now” Steve says as the other Omega pats him on the back.

“But seriously, what are you doing here?” Clint repeats “If you’re caught shirking your responsibilities”

“I’m here because of this” Steven interrupts, holding up his job stone for Clint to see.

“That son of a bitch” seethes Clint after taking a moment to assess Steven’s predicament “he didn’t have to go that far”. He then turns back to Steven “There may be a chance that the book you need is here, but I doubt it.”

Well that certainly isn’t the uplifting reassurance that Steven was hoping for. Why would the book not be in the library? Where else could it be? How is it that his entire mission is going to be ruined, all because he bumped into someone this morning?!

Clint led the way to a rectangular desk, cluttered with papers & a large, leather-bound, scroll which he picks up. Steven maneuvers himself next to Clint as the other man opens the scroll. “The book you needed was called ‘The Bewitching Serpent’ right?”

At first the paper is blank but then soft blue lines of ink quickly appear & form the image of the two men as they stand by the desk, looking at the scroll. The men shrink as the image expands to show the entire library, a golden line of ink leads from their location on the map to a point at the far side of the library.

Clint swears under his breath “I know where this is” he tells Steven before pulling out his own job stone & speaking into it “Sam, remember passageway number four that I showed you? I need you to meet me & Steve there.”

“We’re going through a hidden passage?” Steven asks.

“Something like that, it’s a bit more complicated though.” Clint responds as he leads them down the path etched out for them on the scroll.

After a little while; 4 minutes & 28 seconds, not that Steven’s counting; the two of them meet up with Sam on the other side of the library.

“What’s going on?” inquires the Alpha.

“Steve here’s got himself in a bit of a situation, & we need to help him out of it.”

 “Of course” Sam then turns to Steven “What happened, Steve?”

“I accidentally pissed off Rumlow, now I have” he looks at his job stone again “3 hours, 30 minutes & 19 seconds to get him some book before something horrible happens to me. By the way, what is going to happen to me?”

“Trust me, you don’t wanna know” Clint answers, not really helping Steven’s nerves “Sam, do you remember how to open the passage?”

Sam nods & turns to the bookcase on the wall. He pulls one book out partially, then does the same to the two books on either side of it, then the book directly below the first, & finally a book three rows up & to the left of the first book. All five books slide back into place simultaneously as the bookcase slowly opens into the wall with a hiss, revealing a dark staircase leading up. Without wasting a second, the three men head up the stairs, not looking back as the bookcase closes behind them.

Clint stops them at the top of the stairs when they reach a plain wooden door.

“Okay guys” he says as he starts to remove a loose stone from the wall “we’re going to need these.” After setting the stone on the ground he reaches his hand in & pulls out three silver necklaces, each with a glowing orange crystal at the end.

“What are these for?” Steven asks as the other Omega hands him a necklace.

“They’ll keep us warm” Clint answers as he & Sam slip the necklaces past the metal serpents around their necks. As Sam watches Steve do the same, he realizes something.

“Where’d you get that other necklace Steve?” he asks, acknowledging the thin chain that held Steven’s shrunken shield under his shirt “You didn’t have it yesterday, did you?”

“It was a gift from Natasha” Steven answers, thinking on his feet; plus it wasn’t exactly untrue “the red haired woman we met yesterday who was being harassed by Hugo.”

“My, my, Steve” Clint says teasingly “Only been here two days & he’s already got an admirer.”

“It’s not like that” Steven protests when Sam begins snickering as well “she’s just a friend. Can we go now; I can literally see my life ticking away.”

“One second” Clint insists as this time he shoves both arms into the hole, reaching for something way in the back. What he pulls out is a quiver of arrows & a beautiful wooden bow.

“Do you really think we’re gonna need that?” asks Sam.

“Better safe than sorry” is all Clint says in responds before opening the door.

As soon as he does, Steven can feel the chill of wind on his face. The first thing he sees as he looks out is what looks like a stronghold embedded into a snow covered mountain.

\------

In the feast hall the Winter Soldier sits across from Rollins, cards in both of their hands, when Rollins rolls two dice that land on 3 & 5\. Officially they were supposed to be overseeing preparations for Lord Pierce’s arrival, but no one dared call them on it. The men look up from the dice into each other’s expressionless faces, searching.

“2 cards” Rollins claims, holding up all 5 cards in his hand.

The Soldier likes playing this game with Rollins because the man is actually capable of keeping a straight face under the Soldier’s glare. Rumlow never seems to care for being underestimated, even when it’s strategically advantageous; & Sebastian, who is normally very calculating & cunning, is terrible at lying to the Soldier. The most important part of this game is deception & Rollins is almost good enough to fool the Soldier. Almost.

Due to the dice roll, the hot cards are 2,3,5,8, & 15; Rollins claims to have two of those cards in hand, the Soldier has three cards in his own hand. If he’s lying & the Soldier calls him out on it, he can add two of his own cards to Rollins’ hand, winning him the game. If Rollins really does have any of those cards in hand, they get added to the Soldier’s hand, turning the tide, unless the Soldier forfeits his guess & draws a card from the deck.

“I think you’re a liar” the Soldier states calmly as he places two of his own cards face down on the table “let’s see ‘em.”

Rollins inhales softly, before letting out a groan & snatching the Soldier’s two cards.

“Looks like I win again” says the Soldier, letting just the slightest bit of mirth slip into his voice as he pockets the sweets that were wagered. As luck would have it, Rumlow picked that moment to enter the feast hall & make his way over to them.

“I swear this guy cheats” Rollins complains as the other Alpha sits down next to him.

“You’re just now figuring that out” laughs Rumlow “Why do you think I never play against him anymore?”

“Because you’re terrible at this game?” the Soldier suggests with a grin before drinking the last bit of wine from his goblet. Before he can even set it back down on the table, Sebastian is at his side refilling it before returning to his place behind his master’s seat.

“I need to get me one like yours” Rumlow groans, gesturing towards Sebastian “Mine’s pretty useless unless I’m threatening him or promising him my cock.”

“I can understand that” says Rollins with a shrug “I’d probably do anything to avoid your cock too.”

“Ha, ha; very funny, assholes” Rumlow rolls his eyes “now deal me in; maybe the two of us might stand a chance against this son of a bitch.”

“Doubtful” the Soldier mutters under his breath “By the way,Rumlow, how did you make it back so soon?”

“What do you…? Oh right, the book. I just got one of the servants to go get it for me.”

Rollins lets out a groan & pinches the bridge of his nose “The pocket realm where the book is kept has been acting up; the sentries guarding the place have been attacking everyone, no matter who they are. That’s why you were supposed to go get it yourself, because you’d actually stand a chance.”

“Oops” is all that Rumlow says in response “Gee, I wonder what the odds of that scrawny Omega making it out of there alive are.”

The Soldier’s eyebrow rises in curiosity, _‘scrawny?’_ The Soldier rises from his seat.

“Where are you going?” asks Rumlow

“We need that book, Rumlow, so I’m going to make sure that it gets to us. Come Sebastian.” With that, master & servant make their exit, leaving the other two Alphas to start a new game.

\------

“Where is this place?” Sam shouts over the sound of the screeching birds & wind that assaults their backsides with snow as they grow closer & closer to mountain; now Steve can make out many rope bridges that crisscross in the sky, over & under each other. Even though the clothing they wore was in no way suited for these conditions, their bodies remained warm thanks to the stones around their necks.

“It’s not really anywhere” Clint responds, keeping his eyes forward “it’s a pocket dimension that can be accessed from many different places that are controlled by Hydra. I only know about the one entrance though.”

 _‘So this place could be used to get from the House of Winter to somewhere else in Der Schädel; maybe even other countries’_ Steven thinks to himself.

They reach the heavy-looking iron doors & Clint holds up his job stone to it & begins to chant a magic phrase which causes the stone to glow crimson. When he is done & nothing happens he tries again, louder & clearer this time; still, nothing happens so he gives banging his fist on the door a shot.

“C’mon, open up you hunk of scrap metal!” he shouts fruitlessly before turning back to his friends “I don’t know what’s wrong with this place but the entrance is sealed shut.”

Well isn’t that just his luck; Steven gripes internally “Is there another way in?”

“If there is, the map doesn’t show it.” Clint responds.

He & Steven share a frustrated sigh before they notice that Sam is being strangely quiet. Looking over to their friend, Steven can see that Sam’s gaze is fixed upwards, right towards a snow colored owl whose own gaze is locked onto Sam’s. Steven & Clint instantly realize that whatever is happening, it would be best if they stayed silent & allowed Sam his concentration.

After a few moments of silence, the owl flies off to the right of the doors & Sam begins to move in that direction as well, beaconing for the others to follow. With the flurry of snow rushing around them it is hard to believe they never lost sight of the pristine bird before it flew up into a cave in the side of the mountain that most likely led into the temple. It would’ve seemed like a miracle if not for how high up the hole actually was.

“I guess we’d better get climbing” says Steve as he walks towards the rocky mountainside, only to be stopped in his tracks by Sam’s grip on his collar.

“Just be patient” he tells them “& try not to move too much.”

The entire time, Sam’s attention is focused on the cave into which the owl retreated; now finally the bird flies out from said cave & lands gracefully on Sam’s shoulder. After a moment, more owls poke their heads out of the cave & gaze curiously at the trio before joining their comrade & perching upon one of the three. Soon enough, the men are swarmed by black, white, & brown feathers; the birds grip the men by their arms & clothing, carefully & impressively not sinking their talons in. Then, without any warning, they are being lifted up into the air; Sam’s calm demeanor only increases Steven & Clint’s awe at the situation, & how easily the birds can take their weight.

When they reach the cave, they see that it’s not big enough for them to walk normally & that they will have to crouch.

“So” Steven says while they make their way through the tunnel “you can talk to birds with your mind, huh Sam?”

“Yep; pretty neat huh?” the Alpha responds over his shoulder with a smirk.

“Very impressive” Steven replies “Did they teach you that as part of your Sky Patrol training?”

“Hold up a second.” Clint chimes in from the back of the group “Samuel, how is it that we spent the entire day together yesterday & it never came up that you know how to tame & fly a dragon?! That’s awesome!”

“Steve asked, you didn’t” is Sam’s nonchalant answer “Besides, I don’t really talk about it.”

Steve can’t help but note the hint of sadness in the Alpha’s voice that was there the first time he ever told Steve about his time in the Sky Patrol “Why don’t you ever talk about Sky Patrol, Sam? Does it have something to do with Aithusa?”

“Now’s not the time; we’re in” Sam was clearly avoiding the issue, but lo & behold, the inside of the stronghold is visible beyond the tunnel’s exit. One by one they drop down the few feet to the marble floor which is mainly covered by snow & ice; the walls are frosted over as well.

Clint scrutinizes the area “This isn’t right; keep your eyes open guys.”

Just as soon as the warning passes his lips the sound of something crashing to the ground can be heard, followed by another, & two more soon after. The sounds echo throughout the stronghold so there’s no way to say for sure where they originated; the only thing they know is that they came from above.

“So Clint, any chance our book is somewhere nearby” Steve asks, although he can already guess the answer.

Taking another look at the map Clint sighs “Of course that would be too easy; no, the book we’re looking for is at the very top.”

Steve takes a tentative look at his job stone. They have just over three hours to get to the top of the mountain, get the book, & then get it back to Rumlow, all while avoiding whatever might be lurking in this place. _Something like this is just a walk in the park for the Captain of Levram_. Steven looks over to his two friends that have accompanied him on this journey  & holds in a sigh.

He can’t be the Captain, not right now; right now he’ll just have to make do with Steven Grant & hope that’s enough to keep himself & his friends safe.

 

The walls of the stronghold are lined with bookshelves; some of the books have very interesting titles: The Violet Mirror, Tales of the Green Giant, A Dance under the Blue Moon, etc… They all seem like children’s stories, & it is then that Steven realizes that so does the book he was sent to collect ‘The Bewitching Serpent’; but it must be more than that right? This place is a specially guarded secret that SHIELD apparently knew nothing about, & for a moment Steven is tempted to grab one of the books from the shelves & open them up.

His intentions must’ve been written clearly on his face because Clint places a firm hand on his shoulder “I wouldn’t if I were you. We only have permission to take one book from these shelves & no others.” He doesn’t elaborate further but his tone brooks no argument.

As they make their way through the place the sounds start up again, seemingly closer this time.

“Do you know what that is?” Steve whispers to Clint.

“If I had to guess” he responds in an exasperated tone “it’s this place’s safeguard against intruders; but we have permission to be here so they **_should_** leave us alone.”

“You mean the same way that the door **_should_** have opened for us?” Steve asks, to which Clint can only sigh an affirmative.

“So now we just take the stairs to get to the top, huh?”  Sam asks in hushed yet exasperated tone, still wary of whatever dangers could be lurking around the corner, but very aware of how much time taking the stairs to the top would take; not to mention that he’s still kind of tired.

“That might not be a very good idea considering there’s something on the loose in here. I suggest we take a shortcut.” Clint interjects with the same lack of volume; although he smirks back at the other Omega all the same “Of course I’m technically  not supposed to know about it, so I’m gonna need you guys to keep this just between us.”

Soon enough they reach a place where the path curves off in two different directions but Clint ignores them both & walks straight towards the part of the wall where the two paths become one. Grimacing, he places a hand to the stone & turns to the other two men “I hate this part though.” Sighing, he turns back to face the wall & says “Hail Hydra.”

The wall moves outwards from the center, blocking the other two paths from view & revealing a continuation of the hall they travelled down, this time with luminescent blue crystals embedded into the wall.

As they follow the path the air becomes inexplicably warmer & the sound of rushing water can be heard. Finally they emerge from the hallway to find something Steven definitely had not been expecting; an oasis of crystal clear water surrounded by soft grass & even palm trees; the ceiling shines like sunlight, emanating warmth, & there are several comfortable looking chairs nearby.

“So…” Sam drawls in slight disbelief “Hydra hides a secret room, inside a mountain fortress, locked away in a pocket dimension, & they use it as a reading nook?”

Clint chuckles “It’s not too many that use it though, at least not for reading… but I’m not supposed to know about that either.” He notices that Steve is a little distracted by the body of water.

“It sounds like rushing water” Steven crouches down & holds his hand flat, inches above the surface “but it’s still. There are rooms like this all over the place aren’t there? These are here to transport us in between them, correct?”

Clint raises an eyebrow towards the smaller man “That’s quite astute Steven.”

Steven simply shrugs & replies “I’ve seen some pretty incredible things in my time believe it or not.” Of course it was easy for Steven to guess the water’s purpose, having come across many similar methods of transportation in his adventures; not that he can share those adventures with the two men.

When they were all gathered in front of the pool of water, prepared to jump in, the leaves on the trees behind them begin to shake fiercely, the warmth in the air disappearing so much that it starts to snow. Turning back, they can see movement behind the trees, like a beast stalking its prey.

Immediately Clint has an arrow drawn on the bowstring, his sharp eyes tracking the creature’s movements even through the ever-increasing snowfall. Aside from the sound of the water & the low growling of the beast, all is silent; yet Steven can’t help but think it’s too quiet. There’s no time to dwell on it though, as the beast lunges towards them without warning, ducking under the arrow that Clint loosed at its head. Luckily the three men managed to evade in time; Clint to the left & Sam & Steve to the right. The beast skidded to a stop on the water’s surface, allowing them to get a good look at it; the creature had the body of a lion with sky blue fur, but its mane is long, pitch black hair that stretches from the top of its head all the way to its long tail, the water begins to freeze underneath its paws.

Clint immediately fires another arrow at the same speed, knowing the beast would evade it, but at least it’s now clear of the water which might just freeze over all on its own if this takes too long. Like he suspected, the creature catches the arrow with its tail & flings it into a snow-covered tree, scorching the bark around the hole, Steven notes; it seems there’s more to Clint than meets the eye.

Steve is pulled from his thoughts when Sam offers a hand to help him off of the ground. Even when both men are on their feet the creature stays focused on Clint; apparently he’s the only one it considers a threat. Using its speed & agility, the beast manages to get in closer to the archer; without time to load an arrow it’s all he can do to fend of the beast’s attacks with his bow which seems resilient to the claws themselves & their freezing properties. Clint however, is most likely not.

Clint manages to land a hard blow to the side of its face, causing it to stagger back long enough for him to get behind the tree line. Now the tables are turned as Clint stalks behind the cover of the trees, firing arrows that are much harder to evade now it can’t see them being fired. Several arrows pierce the beast’s skin, but its blood is like ice & it pushes the arrows out quickly. Unfortunately the beast is more cunning than it first appears.

Just as an arrow whistles through the air, aimed right between its eyes, the beast lets out a thunderous roar accompanied by an icy blue wind that not only knocks the arrow back but freezes it solid, along with the trees & anything else the wind touches.

From behind the wall of & ice & frozen trees Clint swears; the crystal around his neck keeps him from being flash frozen but the cold is still so intense he feels it in his bones, not to mention that the others have no way to defend themselves if that thing decides to turn its attention to them. Taking a deep breath he draws an arrow from his quiver & lines up the shot with spot where the ice is thickest; where he knows the creature must be aiming its breath & begins to whisper an incantation. Before he can finish, the sound of a twig snapping can be heard from behind him.

The beast continues its assault, fully prepared to bury the human in an ice coffin, when something strikes the back of its head. With a cry of agitation it turns to face the worthless human that dares challenge him.

The look that the creature shoots at him is causing Sam to slightly reconsider Steve’s plan; right now it’s managing to not only look pissed off, but as though it’s insulted that Sam’s even attempting to fight with nothing more than pieces of wood, broken off of the nearby chairs, as weapons. Regardless, Sam stands his ground & chucks two more pieces at the beast which literally doesn’t waste his breath & simply knocks the projectiles out of the air with a whip of its tail. Now either Sam’s seeing things or the creature just rolled its eyes at him. Suddenly Sam’s wondering if there’s more to this thing than meets the eye. Leaning back on its haunches the beast readies itself to pounce.

“Wait!” Sam calls out, not with his voice but with his mind, trying to establish a connection. To his amazement the creature actually stops & stares curiously at him, & Sam’s mentally kicking himself for not thinking of this sooner.

“Why are you here? Why are you attacking us?”

The creature smiles, a predatory, sharp-toothed smile as it slowly sinks closer to Sam.

“Why?” it drawls out in a deceptively gentle accent “You betray me; strip me of my powers; enslave me in this damned library, & still you must ask me _why_ I hunt you? Are all humans this stupid or just the ones that work for Hydra?”

“You’ve got it wrong man!” Sam pleads telepathically “We’re not allies of Hydra, we’re just”

“Servants, yes” the creature interrupts, unimpressed “I deduced that much from your attire & the snakes around your necks. But you see; I don’t _care_ how meager your position is; if you have even the slightest connection to that treacherous Skull, you are my enemy  & I, will kill you. It’s really that simple.”

At this point it should be perfectly clear that he has no chance of reasoning with him, yet the human keeps trying. He must be very brave or very stupid; the creature would put it at 35% 65% respectively.  _It doesn’t matter; soon he’ll just be dead_.

The creature is prepared to pounce when, suddenly, a weight lands on his back, accompanied by a sharp pain in the back of its neck. It turns its head just enough to see the smallest of the humans clinging to his mane with one hand & pushing one of the archer’s fire arrows deeper into his neck with the other.

He tries to buck the human off & use his blood to push the arrow out of him, but the human is strong, strong enough to overpower the blood & keeps himself on the beast just by gripping the mane & straddling its back with his thighs.

 _‘How had he even managed to sneak up on me?’_ he roars internally. It’s impossible that he couldn’t see, hear, or smell the human approach; but then his gaze falls back on the Alpha human who’d spoken to him. That bastard was using their link to distract his senses so that the Omega could get close. _‘And I fell for it’_ he thinks to himself bitterly.

Steve holds on tight as the creature bucks & thrashes, never letting go of the arrow in his grip, even when his fingers & legs feel as if they might freeze & break off. However, a strong explosion from their left distracts him enough for the beast to finally fling the man off. From his new position on the ground Steven can see a gaping hole in the ice wall; from that very hole steps Clint, & he is not alone.

When Clint escapes the wall of ice with three of the fortress’ animated suits of armor following behind him, & takes in the scene the first thing he feels is relief that both of his friends are alright. The second thing he feels is confusion at the sight of Steve gawking back at him, & Sam engaging the creature, who happens to have one of his own arrows in its neck, in a very intense looking staring contest. Deciding it’d be best to ask questions later, Clint turns back toface the warriors who are prepared for battle.

“Those two are with me” he points out Sam & Steve with one hand while holding his job stone  
up to the helms of the knight’s armors.

 _‘The archer’s returned, & it seems I’ve missed a few sentries as well’ _the beast scowls; these humans are really beginning to irk him. _‘Of course it’s nothing I can’t handle.’_

As the armors cautiously approach, the beast lets loose its roar at them, only this time it is not as powerful as the last. Instead of completely encasing them in ice, the breath leaves them with a layer of luminous frost from helm to boot. The glowing blue armor combined with the cold that now surrounds them, creates a phantasmal aura.

Clint, Sam, & Steve have already regrouped near the slowly freezing spring, cautiously watching the scene that unfolds before them. For a long moment everything seems to go completely still & silent as an icy death. Then, without preamble the suits swing their swords at the beast, but suddenly stop as if held in place by an invisible force. The beast chuckles inhumanly as the suits of armor turn their swords in the direction of the three humans.

Clint raises his job stone high & orders them to stop, which they do for a moment before they are advancing again. Steve notes that their movements are slow & jerky as if their bodies & minds are acting against one another.

“The frost” he says to Sam & Clint “the creature must be using it to control their movements.”

 “Your friend has quite the head on his shoulders.” the beast tells Sam through their link right before its eyes, as well as the suits of armor, flash a shimmering emerald for just a second before returning to their original shades of blue “Allow me to fix that for him.”

The armors’ movements are suddenly swift & fluid; luckily Sam manages to knock Steve backwards & out of the way of one of their swords, nearly losing his own head in the process. Steven grabs the backs of his friends’s shirts & pulls all three of them into the water; the three of them sink further & further.

Just when it feels as if they can’t go any deeper the trio is jettisoned to the surface & out of the water. They seemed to be in some sort of outside tower, overlooking the eastern & northern sides of the mountain, which was most likely used for archers & cannons back when this place existed in the real world. A series of rope bridges connect it to neighboring mountain peaks. As Steve & Sam right themselves Clint remains kneeling on the ground, an arrow aimed at the pool of water they emerged from & an enchantment already leaving his lips.

Without warning, two of the suits of armor spring up from the water, swords brandished; Clint is, of course, two steps ahead. He fires the arrow into the water, which freezes both the spring itself & the armors which are still half submerged.

“That was close” Clint announces nonchalantly as he stands & approaches the frozen armor.

“Close; that was incredible!” Steve praises “Both of you were incredible.”

“Well now you’re gonna make us blush” Sam remarks with a grin.

“Okay guys, the good news is, we’re at the top of the mountain.” Clint says as he puts away the map “The bad news is that we’ve ended up on the wrong peak & we’ll need to get over from the outside, since the portals are no longer a viable option.”

He places a hand on each of the swords being held in a frozen gauntleted grip; slowly, as he speaks an enchantment, the grips loosen & Clint can pry the swords from their owners.

“So it’s not just arrows you can do that with?” Steven inquires.

“Enchanting weaponry is just a skill I picked up on the road as a kid” Clint answers with just a hint of sadness as flame-colored symbols stretch out across the blades. “Admittedly I have a lot more experience enchanting arrows than swords but if we’re going to keep going, you two need something to defend yourselves with. If I give these to you guys, you aren’t going to poke your eyes out, are you?”

“Hey I was a soldier, remember?” Sam remarks as he takes the blade Clint hands him.

“You two don’t have to do this” Steve says, then clarifies “keep going, that is. I appreciate the help but I can make the rest of the journey by myself.” It was true, plus Steven couldn’t keep dragging his friends into danger because they thought he needed them there to protect him. Sam nearly died moving Steve out of the way of an attack he would’ve avoided just fine.

“Steve, that’s crazy talk.” Sam tells him with concern dripping from his voice, which makes Steve a little angry even though he thought he was used to being underestimated in this form; but not from them.

“Despite appearances I can take care of myself” he huffs “even in a situation like this.”

“No one’s saying anything to the contrary Steve” says Clint placating, trying to diffuse his friend’s righteous anger “but just because you can handle it on your own, doesn’t mean you should have to.” He flashes the other Omega a smile “What’s the point of having friends tagging along if we don’t help each other out?”

“I never meant to imply that you’re too weak to handle all this” adds Sam “honestly, I wouldn’t want to be alone in a place like this.”

He slings an arm around both of Steve’s shoulders, pulling the smaller man into his side. The gesture feels right to Steve as it was something the Howling Commandos often did with him, despite him being the largest of the bunch. It’s not because he’s an Omega & Sam’s an Alpha, all the Howlies were Alphas,  but it’s different now, with him being this small; for some reason he feels he just can’t stay mad while being held like this. _Maybe there was someone who did this before he became the Captain?_

“So we have to get in from the outside.” Steve says “Any chance one of those arrows is good for rock climbing Clint?”

“I think I can manage something” the archer replies with a smirk.

______________________________________________________________

Seconds after the beast sends two of the suits of armor into the spring after the humans, the water completely freezes up. Damn. The creature can do pretty much anything with ice except, ironically enough, melt it.

No matter; the creature has more important things to deal with than three, admittedly resourceful, yet ultimately insignificant humans. If they’re really smart they’ll leave this place & never returns. The creature chuckles to himself. He suspects he hasn’t seen the last of them.

______________________________________________________________

The bridge sways in the cold wind as the three men cross; luckily none of them seem to be afraid of heights. They have just over two hours to get the book & get it back to Rumlow; speaking of which, the next time Steven encountered Rumlow in his true form, he’d have to remind himself to punch him extra hard.

 “So you said we had to get back into the mountain from the outside” Sam says to Clint “I don’t suppose it’ll be as easy as finding another hole in the wall.”

“This whole mountain is a man-made structure built a long time before Hydra got its tentacles on it” Clint explains “It was made to withstand armies but it also has secret ways in & out; some that even Hydra still doesn’t know about.”

“How do you know about them?” Steve responds.

“This was back in the early days when I actually thought it was possible to escape; I’d use any free time I had exploring secrets hidden in the palace, the ones I could get to at least.”

“So why’d you stop looking?” Sam asks, although he wonders if he wants to hear the answer.

Clint’s breath is visible as he lets out a sigh "This place… this place has some reputation of being Hell on Earth; don’t get me wrong, if you piss the wrong people off it can get pretty bad, but for those of us who’ve lasted here long it’s like, it’s like home."

“Hear me out” Clint says when the other two men open their mouths to protest “We’ve all been through some pretty traumatic shit; we’re like a big messed up family, even assholes like Hugo. Not to mention, some of us either don’t have anything left to go back to, or we never had anything to begin with.”

He says this last bit so somberly that Steve can’t help the question that escapes his lips “Why did you get brought here Clint; if you don’t mind my asking?” There’s a few moments where Steven thinks the other Omega will refuse to answer, but then Clint lets out a visible sigh & starts talking.

“I was a thief, a damn good thief known throughout the world as Hawkeye.”

Whatever reaction Clint might’ve been expecting, it certainly wasn’t for Steve to give him a vague look & for Sam to questioningly utter “Hawk Guy?”

With an audible groan Clint corrects him “ No. HAWK. EYE. The daring marksman who always gets his target?” Still Sam & Steve show no signs of recognition “I was a member of the Circus of Shadows; our bounty posters were all over the place.”

“Hold on; I do know about the Circus of Shadows.” Sam interjects “Every so often a Circus would show up in a city without warning, mesmerizing people with their performances; it’s not until after they’ve gone that people regain their senses, but by then they’ve already made off with whatever they’d come for.”

Clint notices that Sam specifically doesn’t mention that the Circus of Shadows were not _only_ thieves, something that he greatly appreciates.

“I never knew who any of the individual members were.” Sam continues.

“Well anyway, four years ago we finally got caught, but I was the only one captured; I’ve been Hydra’s lapdog ever since.” It’s hard to see the man’s expression with Clint being ahead of the other two, but Steven can tell from the man’s voice that there’s more to the story. He can also tell that now isn’t the time to press the issue.

“So Sam” Steve says in what he hopes is a subtle way of changing the subject “Why don’t you tell us more about your time with the Sky Patrol?”

“It was, it was good” Sam mutters uncharacteristically before steadying his voice “You guys already know about Aithusa, my dragon partner. We were actually paired up with another dragon & rider, a man named Riley & his partner Skain. We got up to some pretty incredible adventures together; there was this time when we evaporated the water from a nearby lake so that it would rain & clear out an entire valley of Magna Rats.”

The lightheartedness of Sam’s voice slowly fades to wistfulness as he continues to reminisce about the four’s time together; the more stories he tells the closer that he & Riley seem to be to each other, & the same for the dragons. It is then that Steve remembers something that Sam had told him.

“Skain & Aithusa were mates?”

“Yeah” Sam answers.

“Was it the same with you & Riley?” Sam doesn’t say anything, but the way his body trembles slightly before the Alpha rights himself says it all. Apparently Clint caught on as well.

“How did it happen?”

“There were reports of a nest of monsters in Lao Hardis; the four of us were sent to either tame them or destroy them, but we weren’t prepared for what we were actually dealing with. Riley & Skain didn’t make it out alive; after that, Aithusa pretty much shut down & nothing I could do helped her.”

“You were mourning too” Steve softly reminds his friend “when someone loses their mate it can be hard to connect with others on even the smallest levels, but you tried your best anyway to help your friend.”

“Can we just not talk about it please?” Sam asks sharply but then his voice softens as he adds “at least, not now”.

“Oh don’t worry” a familiar voice calls out to Sam in the distance “you won’t have to talk about anything at all.”

Sam’s gaze shoots up to where the beast is lurking on a higher bridge, just barely visible, along with a group of armors.

“Get down!” Sam tackles the two Omegas, causing the bridge to swing wildly & narrowly miss being caught in the burst of freezing wind.

Clint & Steve quickly grasp the situation & Clint quickly fires an arrow in the direction of the beast. Just when it seems like the arrow’s gone just a little too wide, it explodes in a huge ball of flame that shatters most of the suits of armor & sends the beast crashing down from the burning bridge onto one below the trio.

“We have to move!” Steve exclaims as soon as he is back on his feet.

As the three of them move they can once more feel the bridge swaying wildly underneath their feet, but looking back, they can see that this time it’s because several suits of armor have jumped down onto their bridge & are giving chase. The beast is nowhere to be seen.

Clint turns his head to fire an arrow back towards the armors but one of them surges forward & snatches the arrow out of the air, leaping off the bridge before the arrow explodes. Meanwhile, the other armors pick up the pace & threaten to soon overtake them. Up ahead is a spot where another bridge intersects with this one, one path leading to a higher bridge & the other leading to a lower one.

“We gotta go up!” orders Clint.

Just as they reach the intersection, a huge blast of wind bombards them from below, icing over the ropes & wooden planks & causing the three of them to slide down the opposite path. Their troubles only worsen as the beast leaps up onto the horizontal bridge & moves to pounce.

“It looks like our paths won’t be crossing again” is the last thing Sam hears before the beast leaps. The thing is that instead of ice cold claws & teeth sinking into his flesh, Sam realizes that he is in freefall, at least until he feels his back slam onto a rope bridge several feet below.

Steve winces when Clint’s elbow lands squarely on his stomach, but there’s no time to address it. Breaking the frozen bridge from under them might’ve gotten them away from the immediate danger, but it bought them only precious few seconds.

“Why are you still chasing us; don’t you have better things to be doing?!” Sam calls out to the beast, which is only looking down on them from the hole made in the bridge above.

The beast rears its head back & for a few short moments it seems as though it will deliver the finishing blow, but the icy wind never comes; instead the air is filled with a deep inhuman laugh.

“You’re absolutely right!” the beast proclaims hysterically “I only came across you by accident, yet here I am, letting these imposed animal instincts sway me into wasting my time hunting you.” The beast’s tone of voice becomes more serious when he says “I’m no longer amused by this, goodbye human.”

“What’s happening Sam?” Steve asks.

“I think… I think he’s leaving” Sam breathes out cautiously.

“That’s good right?” Clint asks just as cautiously, keeping his arrow trained on the beast.

“I wouldn’t count on it” Steve says as he twists around, drawing his sword to face an unseen enemy. Unseen, that is, until they move out from snowy mist; suits of armor with swords drawn, marching two by two with footsteps so soft that Steve still almost didn’t notice even with his hearing.

“Any chance you’ve got an arrow that can get us out of this?” Sam half-jokes, holding up his own sword to face the armor’s that are approaching from the other end of the bridge.

A smirk tugs at the corner of the archer’s mouth “I’ve got just the thing” he lowers his bow to aim right ahead, casting a quick incantation. The beam of rainbow light that flew forth around the arrow, clearing the path of suits of armor, is certainly beautiful, but it’s  completely ignored in favor of the bolt of blue energy that hits Clint squarely in the chest with enough force to send him toppling over the side of the bridge.

For Clint, the world seemed to be compressed into the scorching chill spreading through his chest. Don’t get it wrong, he was still vaguely aware of the things happening around him; the feeling of being propelled through the air & crashing into yet another bridge, only this time, with enough force to shatter it. He’s aware of the strain on his arms as he desperately clings to a rope that sways dangerously in the wind. He’s aware that the only thing keeping him alive right now is his body tapping into some innate survival instinct, whilst his mind can only fall deeper into the cold.

Steve & Sam are given almost no time to think themselves, as the suits of armor have almost overtaken them. Steve snatches up Clint’s bow from where it’s fallen while Sam parries an attack that was aimed at his side.

Throughout all of the commotion, Steve takes in the entire situation. The beast is gone; the narrow bridge makes it easy for Sam to keep the suits at bay but there’s just too many of them. Then there’s Clint. The bridge he crashed onto is overturned with a large chunk missing from it; only a few ropes keep the thing suspended in the air. The archer swings precariously several feet below; he doesn’t seem to be trying to climb up; maybe he’s injured?

There’s no option Steven has that can keep all three of them safe & maintain his secret. Honestly that only makes what he decides to do easier.

Sam swings his blade swiftly & fiercely. He knows he admitted that Steve could take care of himself, but his inner Alpha can’t help but feel the need to protect the Omega standing next to him, especially after what happened to Clint. He’s so focused on holding back the armor that he startles when he feels Steve wrap an arm around his waist.

“Steve, what are you…”

“Hold on tight!” the Omega interrupts, & before Sam can protest, the two of them are leaping through the air before landing onto the bridge that Clint previously hit.

Steve swears under his breath as their impact causes the bridge to sway violently. Holding on tightly to the rope he begins to shimmy his way closer to the spot where the rope holding Clint is dangling.

“What the hell was that!?” he hears Sam shout after him, but he ignores the Alpha in favor of calling out to the other Omega.

“Clint!” Or so the archer thinks he hears. _Maybe it was just the wind?_ A smooth genteel voice provides even though Clint is pretty certain he’s never heard the voice before.

“Clint!” the voice calls to him again, & this time Clint’s certain that it’s not the wind. Slowly the Omega lifts his gaze up towards the source of the sound & sees something swinging past his vision. The image is to blurry to make out, or maybe it’s his eyes that are the problem; the thought that he might be going blind scares him for some reason, but he can’t quite recall why. But after a few seconds his vision clears enough that he can make out what it is that’s in front of him… it’s his bow; the bow that he’s had with him for as long as he can remember, the bow that grew & changed just as he did, the only constant in his crazy life.

Seeing it must’ve knocked something loose in his head, allowing him to recall the situation & giving him enough clarity to see who it is that is holding the bow out to him. He stares up as Steve carefully climbs down the rope towards him.

 _‘Wait, Steve’s doing_ WHAT _?!’_

“Grab on!” the other Omega shouts down to him as he holds out Clint’s bow with his right hand, the fingers of his left firmly gripping the rope supporting them both.

Clint almost can’t believe what he’s seeing, so he asks the first question that pops into his head, “How’d you get over here?”

“There’s no time!” Steve shouts back “Just grab onto the bow!”

“No!” Clint shakes his head fiercely “I’m not gonna risk dragging you down with me.”

“You have to” Steve argues back “the rope is breaking.” Clint follows Steve’s gaze to the spot between them where the rope is indeed fraying apart “Your eyes were glassed over & you weren’t trying to climb up, so I came down to get you.

“Shit” the archer swears under his breath; what had that thing done to him? He turns back up to Steve “You can’t hold us both up, especially not with one hand.”

“He can.” Clint is startled slightly by Sam’s voice. He hadn’t even noticed the Alpha up there, balanced on the interwoven ropes that used to be the side of the bridge, with an extra tight grip on the rope that the two Omegas are hanging from. “Don’t ask me how he can do it, but he’s got you, & I’ve got both of you.”

“Besides” Steven says with a small smile “what’s the point of having friends tag along if we don’t help each other out?”

For a moment Clint simply stares up at the smaller Omega, but then a small laugh escapes his lips “Those sound like some pretty wise words.”

“I think so too” Steven says with a smile when Clint grips the bow tightly. As he hefts the other man upwards all seems to be going well; Steven can smell Sam’s sweat & exertion as he pulls the two of them up to him.

But then a heavy force slams into him, something cold & hard wraps around his neck. Turning his head, Steven can see that a suit of armor had been flung over to them somehow & is trying to strangle him. _Damn!_ Steve would’ve been more careful if he knew that the frost armors could still do things like this now that the beast had left.

The armor tightens its hold on Steve’s neck; the only upside is that the armor seems to have lost its sword somewhere on the way over, but Steve has no hands free with which to fight it off. If he falls then both he & Clint will die; he comes to the only decision left to him.

With a grunt of exertion he flings Clint & his bow overhead; the archer catches himself on the wooden planks of the overturned bridge.

“Steve!” he hears Clint & Sam yell, but it’s too late, the struggle between Steve & the armor has caused them both to plummet into the abyss below.

 

 _‘At least I managed to get the armor off’_ he thinks to himself only slightly bitterly as he falls. He’s not sure exactly how long he’s falling for but it’s cold, so cold!

He can feel without reaching a hand towards his chest that the heat crystal has been torn off somehow, most likely from when the armor tried to strangle him. The shield around his neck has actually adhered to his skin to keep them from being separated, but that’s not what he’s concerned about right now.

He tries to turn, find something to grab onto, but his body is immobile, like he’s already frozen; & just like that he’s falling a different fall. While he stares up at the sky, the snow-filled expanse of white can only be seen as the cursed tundra that served as his underwater tomb for so many years. Steven shuts his eyes, refusing to allow any tears to escape as he meets his fate.

_“Steven you don’t have to do this, we can find another way!”_

“There is no other way Peggy” he says into the void “If I give up control of this beast now, no one Hydra’s set its sights on will survive; at least this way no one else has to die.”

_“But if you can just keep it there for a while longer, we can have the mystics track you down, get you out, & then we can blast that monstrosity out of the sky!”_

“Peggy” Steven breathes her name with a sad chuckle “You know that there’s no weapon we have that’ll work on this thing. Besides, I can feel my control slipping; if I don’t finish this now there’s a good chance that…”

_“Steve, you son of a bitch!”_

This voice… it wasn’t part of this conversation, Steven’s sure of it, yet he knows exactly how to respond to it.

“Hey pal.” Even though he feels the tears start to stream down his face, Steve can’t help but smile.

_“Hey pal?! You’re about to go & kill yourself & that’s all you have to say to me?!”_

“I couldn’t really think of anything better; sorry.”

_“Stevie” the other voice calls out to him, voice pleading “you can’t go; the world needs you too much. We need you too much.”_

_“He’s right Steven” Peggy adds in that same tone “We don’t care about any of our petty squabbles anymore; we just want you to come ...”_

He can’t hear either of their voices anymore; all he can hear is the moaning of the beast around them as it plummets to both of their deaths. It’s getting colder & colder, & the crash is inevitable at this point; instead of focusing on what’s going to happen to him, he focuses on the warmth he felt while speaking with those two people.

“I’m sorry Peggy”

The Alpha woman had believed in him back when no one else did, she’d taught him the ways of being a warrior & a lover. He has no idea how he wasn’t able to decide who to be with for the rest of his life; was there even anyone who could compete?

Then he thinks of the other voice, & some of the things that he & Peggy had said.

_‘We need you too much’_

_‘We don’t care about any of our petty squabbles anymore’_

Was this other person the reason he couldn’t fully give his heart to Peggy? But Steven didn’t remember anyone like that, although something about the voice seemed familiar. Like a forgotten home.

“I’m sorry”

Steven doesn’t know why he’s apologizing to the nameless voice, or if it would even count, but even so…

“I’m sorry Bu…”

Crash

He’s completely submerged; the few inches of snow feeling an ocean to him; which is why, after a seemingly endless amount of time has passed, the sensation of being lifted up feels like a miracle.

Whoever’s carrying him is cradling him in their arms like a child while they slip something warm around his neck; Steven feels he should protest at least a little, for the sake of his dignity, but whoever it is only tightens their hold on him when he squirms. It feels so warm & safe here that Steven decides to just give into it. Before drifting off he notes that one of the stranger’s arms is much colder than the other.

_‘That’s odd.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddd CLIFFHANGER ;)
> 
> But more importantly, Steve & the Winter Soldier together, interacting, after only four excruciating chapters of waiting.
> 
> Don't forget to yell at me in the comments.


End file.
